The good news first: according to the team, nobody was injured when the mast broke on the Italians' new AC-75 yacht on Monday afternoon. The rig, however, was hit. Which is why the first pictures of the Italians' training accident show a rather "naked" America's Cup yacht. The photos were taken by star photographer Carlo Borlenghi, who was obviously on site for the shoot. A statement from Patrizio Bertelli's Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team shortly before 9pm on Monday said: "It's a new boat and something like this can happen. If you don't push hard enough, you'll never know your limits."
The mast breakage occurred in the afternoon while sailing off the coast just a few miles from the Sardinian harbour of Marina di Capitana. The mast, sails and rigging were secured by the sailors and members of the Shore crew who rushed to help. The boat and individual parts are already ashore, where the crew is working with all available resources to resume training for the start of the America's Cup World Series (ACWS) as soon as possible. The first ACWS series in the 36th Cup cycle will take place from 23 to 26 April in the Italians' home waters off Sardinia.
The Italians' pride is by no means broken with the mast. The team, which is extremely popular in its home country, received the first 300 messages of encouragement within a few minutes of the Facebook post. The flood of encouraging messages continued late into the evening. One fan summarised the events as follows: "No pain, no gain" - no pain, no progress.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
