Today, Thursday 29 August, the America’s Cup teams were on the water in Barcelona as the first day of Louis Vuitton Cup racing began. Emirates Team New Zealand won their only race of the day against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and returned to shore as usual, however it appears the boat fell off and was damaged while being pulled out of the water.

In a statement posted on all social media channels, the defending America’s Cup champion said:

“When we retrieved the AC75 from the sea today, the crane failed while lifting it onto its mount and it landed heavily.

Statement from Emirates Team New Zealand:

As the AC75 was being recovered from the water today, the crane failed while lifting it onto its mount and it landed awkwardly.
All team members are safe.
The extent of the damage must be assessed as quickly as possible. pic.twitter.com/cbDEoqaPx9

— EmiratesTeamNZ (@EmiratesTeamNZ) 29 August 2024

No further information is available on the extent of the damage. Emirates Team New Zealand will take part in the remainder of the Louis Vuitton Cup Round Robin series and has a race scheduled against INOES Britannia and another against Orient Express Racing Team tomorrow afternoon.

However, as defending America’s Cup champions, they have already qualified for this event, so their participation in the Louis Vuitton Cup is simply to practice against the other challengers. So missing races will not affect the Kiwis in the short term, but every race missed will be serious.

Emirates Team New Zealand only competes in the Louis Vuitton Round Robin series and therefore only has nine races left against the competition before facing the winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup in the America’s Cup itself.

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