Home

US team confident of America's Cup return

AAP
American Magic have work to do to repair their capsized race yacht Patriot.
Camera IconAmerican Magic have work to do to repair their capsized race yacht Patriot.

United States challengers American Magic are assessing the extent of damage to their race yacht Patriot, which capsized and came close to sinking during racing Sunday in the America's Cup challengers series.

Skipper Terry Hutchinson said American Magic are confident of making repairs and being able to continue in the Prada Cup series, which resumes in Auckland on Friday.

Patriot, which lost its first three races in the challenger series, was leading Italian challenger Luna Rossa when it capsized rounding the final mark.

The US team attempted a complicated manoeuvre at high speed but were caught by a sudden blast of wind and soared out of the water before tipping over on its port side.

Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE

Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.

READ NOW

All 11 crew were quickly accounted for and none was injured.

There were fears Patriot, which was damaged below the waterline, would sink and a buoy was fixed to the top of the mast to mark its position in case it went down.

The Game AFL 2024

Rival teams raced to the assistance of the American team, along with police and fire officers.

The boat eventually was hoisted upright and pumped out and, after several hours, was towed back to its base in downtown Auckland, where it arrived around midnight.

Hutchinson said "there was definitely a lot of concern" that Patriot would not be saved.

"When you start attaching things to the top of the mast, you know that's not a good situation," he told reporters on the dock.

"But we'll assess the situation... We obviously sustained some damage to the bow of the boat.

"It's too early to really comment on how long it takes or the extent of it."

While racing doesn't resume until Friday, competing boats are expected to be available to be measured in their race set-up by Wednesday afternoon.

Hutchinson said he is confident American Magic will be able to continue in the regatta in which it represents the New York Yacht Club.

"Things that don't kill you are only going to make you stronger and I'm exceptionally confident in the team," he said.

"Until you're dead, you're not... It's the America's Cup; we have to be prepared to fight for it and we will."

Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.

Sign up for our emails