Yesterday, Team American Magic capsized spectacularly at the windward mark in its race against Luna Rossa. The boat hit a gust at a speed of around 48 knots as it dropped onto the downwind course. The video shows that the leeward backstay was not released, the mainsail apparently could not be opened wide enough. The crew lost control, the boat heeled heavily to leeward, first lifted completely out of the water and then crashed back onto its leeward side, capsizing to port.
The capsizing of American Magic
Up until then, everything looked quite "normal", if you can even say that about a capsize. And there was initially no cause for concern for the team either. "We capsized 19 times in our training boat," said team skipper Terry Hutchinson later. And the other capsizes observed so far, for example by Team New Zealand, had initially given no cause for concern either. "The boats normally float very high. If you get them far enough for the wind to reach under the mainsail, they right themselves again." Not so the American boat "Patriot". It sank deeper and deeper into the water.
"We knew immediately that something was wrong," said Hutchinson. "When I got out of my cockpit, we were deeper in the water than we should have been. The 'pop-up' didn't happen. So that was the first clue. Boat captain Tyson Lamond came through communications and said, 'I think there's a hole in the boat." An inspection confirmed: the boat had a large hole on the port side and was taking on water.
Hutchinson explains how this leak could occur: "There is a transverse structure inside the boat and a longitudinal structure. When the boat hits the water, it's fine if it hits flat on the keel. But if you land on the side, on the flat part of the hull, the structure is not designed for that."
For the next few hours, the team struggled to keep the boat afloat. Hutchinson emotionally thanked the other teams and the organisers for their immediate and extensive help with pumps and flotation devices. After two and a half hours, the boat was stabilised and had to be towed backwards into the harbour at two to three knots due to the location of the leak. Six hours after capsizing, it was safely ashore.
Stressful days are now beginning for the team. After assessing the full extent of the boat damage, Hutchinson was confident that he would soon be able to sail again. The boat is not irreparably damaged. The hydraulics had only suffered minor damage, but the condition of the boat's electronics was a cause for concern. Fortunately, the syndicate had already brought all the spare parts from the USA to Auckland beforehand. Hutchinson estimated that the repairs would take ten days. He also confirmed that American Magic would not be able to sail the 3rd and 4th rounds of the Robin Robins next weekend. The aim is to be back at the start for the Prada Cup semi-final on 29 January, preferably a few days earlier. "I would like to sail again before the semi-final and not straight into it," says Hutchinson. In the semi-final, the two losing teams in the round robins will sail for the second place in the final, with the winner going straight into the final.
The capsize does not change anything for the American team in terms of qualification. This is because the British team is already leading with 4:0 points. At the time of the capsize, American magic was clearly ahead of Luna Rossa, but a victory in this race would only have resulted in one point for both teams in the overall standings. It was therefore quite likely that the British would emerge victorious from the round robins anyway and Luna Rossa would sail into the semi-finals against American Magic.
It remains to be seen how the race organisers will deal with this changed situation. If they stick to their current plans, only Luna Rossa and Ineos Team UK would be able to compete next weekend and sail two races against each other. As the Brits already have four points to their name, including two wins against the Italians, they only need one more win to reach the final of the Prada Cup. Or the Italians win twice against the British, in which case there would probably have to be a play-off.
However, this scenario is unlikely to please the organisers and, above all, the sponsors. As there are only three challengers anyway, the qualification process has been stretched out using a lengthy and unusual elimination mode, also to generate more airtime. Instead of a three-day round 3 and 4 with two races each at the weekend, it could now all be over after just one race.
It can therefore not be ruled out that a postponement of the qualification will be considered. This, in turn, is unlikely to please the British, as a victory in the Round Robins would give them a racing break of almost three weeks until the final of the Prada Cup, which could be used for updates to the boat.
