Team Dennis Conner's second America's Cup boat USA-77 went for its first sail in Auckland waters on Saturday after being repaired following its sinking off California in July.
Spokesman Keith Taylor said the Stars and Stripes boat got "thumbs up on all counts" on its first day back on the water.
"Basically
the first thing you always do with any new boat, you load it up, load up the winches," he said.
USA-77 was out sailing again in yesterday's light conditions as the process of retuning it continued.
USA-77 went down during training in 17m of water near the south entrance to Long Beach Harbour when it suffered a failure in the rudder shaft area, allowing water to flood the hull.
None of the 15 crew on board was hurt, but onboard pumps and airbags were unable to keep the boat afloat.
It was recovered the next day, and found to have hit the bottom relatively softly, with the bulb and bow appearing to have gone into the mud together.
The only significant damage was to the bow.
The damaged boat was shipped to Auckland, and a new bow section built at New England Boatworks in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where the two Stars and Stripes boats were constructed.
The new bow section was flown to Auckland, the damaged section sawn off and the new one grafted on.
Taylor said USA-77 was now "as good or better" than it had been before the sinking.
"You always do things a little better when you go back and try it a second time," he said.
The incident had allowed the New York Yacht Club entry to do some fine-tuning to the bow.
"Within cup requirements we were able to make small modifications to the bow shape," Taylor said. "If you look at it in that light, it was a good thing."
The repairs had gone smoothly, but the major focus for the team so far had been on making the most of USA-66.
That is the boat being raced for now in the Louis Vuitton Cup series.
- NZPA
