Fuente info Guardian.co.uk
Swiss America's Cup defender Alinghi 5 damaged in testing on Mediterranean
• Craft delivered by air and may have been damaged in process
• £20m catamaran towed back to base and mast was lowered
Bob Fisher guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 1 September 2009 15.42 BST
Alinghi 5, the catamaran built by Ernesto Bertarelli for Switzerland's defence of the America's Cup, is reported to have suffered a major structural failure while testing in light winds on the Mediterranean. The 120ft high-tech craft, flown over the Alps by helicopter from Geneva to Genoa, is reputed to have cost in excess of £20m to design and build.
Observers of the testing claim that the carbon-fibre structural beam that runs from the centre of the main crossbeam at the mast to the aft cross beam close to the starboard hull, was fractured in the incident, which occurred in nine knots and a flat sea. The sails were dropped and the catamaran towed slowly back to its base, where the mast was removed immediately.
A video of Alinghi 5's arrival by air undeniably shows the starboard aft 'corner' going into the water and the boat twisting on it. This could have been the root cause of the damage to the catamaran.
Alinghi sources say that for the past week the team have been doing nothing more than "ongoing work and routine maintenance" and that this was afforded by "a suitable weather window for carrying out this work."
