New Zealand Races Against Time to Repair America's Cup Boat

New Zealand's America’s Cup boat, 'Taihoro', was damaged while being lifted out of the water in Barcelona. The team is working round-the-clock to repair the damage before resuming the race. The incident occurred during the first day of racing to determine the challenger for the oldest international sporting trophy.

New Zealand's efforts to repair their America's Cup boat, 'Taihoro', intensified on Friday after the AC75 sustained damage while being lifted out of the water post-race in Barcelona.

Following Thursday's incident on the competition's first day, the team secured 'Taihoro' with a portable crane and assessed the damage overnight. Shore team engineers are now working 24/7 to carry out the necessary repairs.

CEO Grant Dalton described the process of cutting out the broken section of the hull and beginning the repair as akin to building a new boat. The crew aims to return to racing as soon as possible, although no specific timeline has been provided.

Despite the setback, New Zealand doesn't need to qualify for the final as the defending champions. However, they had to withdraw from Friday's fixtures, leaving Britain, France, Italy, Switzerland, and the United States to vie for the challenger position in the high-tech, high-speed mono-hull boats.

(With inputs from agencies.)