Alinghi sails smoothly as disaster strikes Team NZ

3.30pm

Team Alinghi placed one hand on the America's Cup this afternoon, while New Zealanders were again horrified by equipment failure aboard the defending yacht, NZL82.

The black boat was dismasted during leg 3 of the six-leg race when pounding to windward in a 25 knot nor'easter. None of the crew were injured.

The mast snapped above the lowest spreaders. The upper portion did not break free, but instead remained trailing over the stern of the yacht.

"It's possible it's the top of the V2 (shroud), which is the main, load-bearing outside rigging element, but until we get a chance to really look at the damage, we'd just be guessing," said syndicate head Tom Schnackenberg moments after the disaster.

The first sign of trouble came on the downwind run as Team New Zealand, driving through the quarter wave of Alinghi, took a lot of water over the bow and down the forward hatch.

For most of the second beat, Team New Zealand's mainsail was backwinding on its heavily pre-bent mast.

With a squall crossing the course and winds of up to 26 knots up the second beat, Team New Zealand ploughed into large waves.

"When the boat pitches forward that increases the shock loading and the boat was definitely bouncing over a couple of waves there and that was obviously the thing that pushed it," Schnackenberg said.

The disaster brought back memories of the first race in this America's Cup series on February 15. Just minutes into that race when NZL82 was forced to withdraw after taking water, then breaking her boom, and finally being left without a genoa after the headfoil was damaged.

Skipper Russell Coutts and the crew of Alinghi SUI64 sailed a perfect race, winning the start, leading by 8 seconds at the first mark and extending their lead to 17 seconds at mark two.

After the dismasting of NZL82, Alinghi continued around the course to claim an easy win.

The challengers lead the best-of-nine series 4-0. Race 5 is scheduled for tomorrow at 1.15pm. Continuous coverage will begin on nzherald.co.nz at 12.30pm.

It was the 13th America's Cup win for Coutts, who has now equalled the skippers' record set by Dennis Conner.

Shnackenberg said the rig from the Team New Zealand's backup boat, NZL81, would be transferred to NZL82 and the crew would be ready for tomorrow's race.

Today's race commentary

Pictures of the dismasting

nzherald.co.nz/americascup

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