Three key questions after American Magic’s capsize
The capsize of American Magic’s boat has thrown the Prada Cup into disarray and questions now abound as to if, when and how the team can continue to compete in the competition.
Photos and footage emerged overnight that reveal extensive damage to the hull while the several hours the boat spent submerged in water surely damaged electrical systems onboard the yacht.
Is the damage repairable?
This is the first question that the American Magic team, as well as sailing fans, will be looking to answer — can they fix it? And if so, how long will those repairs take?
Each syndicate must declare and present the yacht they intend to race to Prada Cup organisers two days before each round begins; meaning
Wednesday would be the first opportunity for the team to do so. However, that seems like it would be a miraculous recovery.
Instead, skipper Terry Hutchinson says the team is hopeful they can sail in the semifinal in two weeks’ time. That gives the team 10 days to make repairs ahead of that week’s declaration deadline.
What made the big hole?
That’s a fairly big hole in the hull of Patriot. Either that’s happened on impact or something heavy has fallen onto the bottom of the boat to cause damage like that. If it was a battery or electrics that caused the hole then they are looking at two big fixes — structural and with the internal components.
“The electronics down below these boats are like a pinball wizard show
— there’ll be a lot of damage there,” NZME commentator PJ Montgomery told Newstalk ZB.
“Bite the bullet and prepare for the semifinal,” he suggested.
Is there an option?
There seems to be two possibilities in play.
American Magic have their first edition AC75, Defiance, up their sleeve, which could be resurrected although that seems highly doubtful.
As it stands their first boat is pretty much decommissioned in a sense that components were taken out and used in Patriot. It could be just a shell and potentially more work for little gain if it doesn’t have a chance to compete — one suspects it would struggle with the revised and racy Team UK and Luna Rossa boats.