America's Cup: Mast breakage: new pictures and the investigation into the cause

According to the team, nobody was injured when the mast of the Italian challenger Luna Rossa Challenge broke. And the team also seems to have got off lightly in terms of equipment. As can be seen in new pictures, the forestay and its fittings have presumably been torn from the deck. The forestay on the mast and the genoa halyard are intact. The mast broke just above deck height.

Luckily for the team, the mainsail remained largely intact. Due to the limited number of sails that can be made and used in the preparation and in the Cup itself, a badly damaged mainsail would have been a major setback. In addition, the lower mast area is normally easier to repair than if the tube breaks in the centre. It is not known whether the hull was also damaged in the mast foot area.

The team has not yet provided any information on the duration of the repairs. In any case, the incident means a setback in preparation and the loss of valuable training time, not to mention the repair costs.