Team New Zealand engineers yesterday began investigating the cause of several gear problems which caused the defenders to lose the first race of the America's Cup.
Their investigation focused first on whether the boom and jib failures which put New Zealand out of the race, handing a 1-0 lead to Alinghi in the best-of-nine series, had a common origin.
More perplexing for the New Zealanders was the question of how and why NZL-82, their low, black race yacht, took on so much water in its race with Alinghi's SUI-64 on a choppy Hauraki Gulf.
PHOTO: AFP
Team sources said New Zealand had not suffered a similar problems in almost five months of training, in a variety of conditions on the same stretch of water.
New Zealand syndicate head Tom Schnackenberg estimated the weight of the water which flooded the New Zealand yacht yesterday at between two tonnes and six tonnes.
One crewman constantly bailed the boat with a blue plastic bucket but fought a losing battle against a tide of cold, green water that immersed some crewmen up to their waists.
Schnackenberg appeared yesterday to discount a common cause for the gear breakages which hit the New Zealand team like a combination of punches, particularly the boom and jib failures.
Even before the race yesterday New Zealand was in trouble. It broke the halyard lock which holds up the headsail and was forced to make a running repair ahead of the start. It also appears New Zealand's second yacht, NZL-81, was severely damaged before the start.
Team sources refused to confirm the damage but the yacht was clearly in trouble and limped to its berth yesterday where its mast was immediately removed.
PHOTO: AP
From the moment the race started it was clear the New Zealand yacht was shipping water at an uncommon rate, leaving its recessed decks awash.
Schnackenberg said the problem was so pronounced, the water so heavy, that the freeboard of the New Zealand yacht -- the height of its deck above the water -- was lowered by around 6cm. Water covered around 60m2 of the yacht's limited deck area.
``We haven't encountered a problem like that in any of the sailing we've done,'' skipper Dean Barker said yesterday.
``It was a shock to us that the boat was full of water after eight or nine minutes of sailing and we're looking at ways of dealing with that.''
Team New Zealand was unable to comment yesterday on reports that it had intentionally closed off the boat's self-bailers, the mechanism that drains water from the cockpit, before the race had started.
The problems that hit New Zealand yesterday occurred in quick succession but Schnackenberg immediately discounted a link between the breakage of the boom and the loss of New Zealand's headsail track.
He said it would be the task of Team New Zealand's engineers to determine whether ``any damage occurred other than the damage that did occur.''
His obscure comment meant it remained to be seen whether the incidents on the water had caused further damage to the structure of New Zealand's mast or hull.
Understandably, there was dismay in the New Zealand camp after the race with the thought that the country's hold on the Cup could be loosened so easily.
Team New Zealand mainsail trimmer Tony Rae said supporters have been fanatical.
``A lot of people on the outside tell us 'you're going to win, you're going to win'. We have to win. We don't have a choice. We can't afford for this thing to leave the country.''
The second race is due to start today, with Team New Zealand facing a long night's work in their boatyard.
Fans and observers were disappointed that the withdrawal meant it was impossible to determine whether Team New Zealand's radical new hull design had given the boat a significant speed advantage over the Swiss boat.
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