We can fix it, says Schnackenberg

3.15pm

Team New Zealand syndicate head Tom Schnackenberg says NZL82 and her crew will be race-ready in time for tomorrow's second start in the America's Cup, despite at least two serious gear failures on the black boat today.

"The breakages can be repaired and the boat could probably be turned around in half an hour," he told TVNZ as NZL82 was ushered back into her berth at the Viaduct Basin.

The team would be "annoyed" by today's gear failures, said Schnackenberg who had been watching the first race of the 31st America's Cup from one of the chase boats.

Team New Zealand was forced to withdraw before even reaching mark one in today's race, after breaking the tip of the boom on NZL82 and then suffering a problem with the genoa headfoil. The gear problems left the New Zealand cup defender unable to set any sail.

Although NZL82 got off to a good start against challenger Team Alinghi's SUI64, the black boat began taking water soon after the start in choppy seas and winds of up to 25 knots.

Asked whether he was surprised at the amount of water seen sloshing over the lee rail of NZL82, Schnackenberg told TVNZ he knew that the boat and the team's training boat, NZL81, were wet.

"Typically when we sail we've had a fair bit of water aboard, and cursed about it," he told TVNZ.

A Team New Zealand crew member could be seen attempting to bail the yacht's cockpit during today's race, using a large blue bucket.

Schnackenberg said Team New Zealand would be making a "little bit better effort" to keep the boat dry.

Yachting commentators have speculated that some of the water may have found its way below decks and placed a heavy load on NZL82's hull and rig, contributing to the two gear failures.

The yacht's designer, Clay Oliver, boarded NZL82 soon after the team withdrew from the race.

The team had experienced problems previously in fresh conditions, Schnackenberg said.

"Once the wind's blowing hard the racing can tend to be a bit of a demolition derby and one thing leads to another in these boats pretty easily, so one little failure can increase the loads on something else."

Alinghi went on to complete the six-leg, 18.5 nautical mile race to win the first point in the best-of-nine series.

The Swiss team later issued a statement in which they criticised the design of the boom on NZL82:

"In particular, the conventional design of the box section boom on SUI 64 proved to be dependable. In contrast, Team New Zealand suffered boom failure when the carbon tube at the end of their lightweight truss system boom broke.

"The advantage to their system is that the truss boom is light and they have built it to decrease windage and weight of the boom in the ends. To achieve this decreased weight in the ends, instead of building a conventional box section, NZL 82 tapers from a truss to a carbon tube.

"The outhaul system is a complex attachment of the mainsail to the boom. The main load component is compression into the boom from the outhaul tension. The mainsheet and leach loads are separate to the outhaul system and do not get transferred into the end of the boom.

"Team New Zealand's outhaul system, at the outboard end of the boom, is built into a small diameter carbon tube. When the tube broke, the team was unable to control the outhaul tension on the mainsail. The foot tension of the sail was loose, resulting in an uncontrolled mainsail shape."

Team New Zealand won the America's Cup in 1995 and successfully defended sport's oldest trophy in 2000 but could not have imagined a worse start to their second Cup defence.

nzherald.co.nz/americascup

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