During tests for the upcoming America's Cup 2024 in Barcelona, Team New Zealand lost control of the altitude of their self-developed AC40 test boat. The modern racing yacht suffered damage to the bow and capsized. It is not yet clear when the repairs will be completed.
The AC40 is a smaller one-design version of the AC75 class. The foiling monohulls are sailed in the Youth and Women's AC with automatic altitude control and self-tacking jib. However, the New Zealand team has been using the boat for a few weeks to develop and collect data for the actual design of its Cupper for 2024, when the teams on the larger boats will have to make do without various automatic systems.
More about the AC40:
The team therefore tested the planned manual altitude control off Auckland, which led to problems. Whilst the sailors were travelling at over 40 knots boat speed in around 15 to 20 knots of wind, the crew on board lost control of the altitude. The rudder and elevator came out of the water, resulting in an uncontrolled gybe at high speed. The yacht's stern lifted out of the water and the bow hit the surface at a steep angle. During the hard impact, the test boat penetrated the water up to the mast before lying on its side.
In addition to capsizing, this "plug" led to damage to the bow due to the high water pressure during immersion. The foredeck was compressed and collapsed. A watertight bulkhead behind the damaged area prevented anything worse from happening. The AC40 was righted by the team and towed back to base.
Shortly after the incident, the team began initial analyses to understand the exact stresses on the test yacht's structures and to learn lessons for the future. Grant Dalton, CEO of Emirates Team New Zealand, surmised: "It is likely that we will need to make some retrofits to our boat and the entire AC40 fleet." However, this must first be investigated in more detail in the coming days.
The yacht involved in the accident is now back in the team's hangar, where it is being examined for the upcoming repair work. It is not yet known how long this will take and when the team will be back on the water.
The team's video of the incident:
America's Cup: Luna Rossa and Alinghi have also capsized
There have already been several capsizes in the ongoing development process. This was not the first time for New Zealand's AC40, and Alinghi and Luna Rossa have also capsized. The Italians were actually sailing in ideal conditions with a steady breeze of 16 knots and waves only 0.6 metres high.
