33rd AC

30.11.2009 (14:39 CET) - Ras Al Khaimah, UAE - Alinghi

Alinghi 5 update: small breakage stops play for a day

(Photo credit: Jose Delgado / Alinghi)

Alinghi 5 is being lifted out of the water this evening in Ras Al Khaimah after suffering a minor breakage while sailing today in an unusually big sea state in the Arabian Gulf. The giant catamaran will be checked over and repaired ready for more training in the coming days.

Alinghi.com speaks to Brad Butterworth, Alinghi team skipper:

What were the conditions today?
Brad Butterworth: Over the last few days the wind has been up to what we think is the limit for these boats and the sea state has been getting bigger and bigger each day. Today it was a little bit too big for us and we had a breakdown with the boat that is going to take us a day to sort out. It just goes to show that these boats have got limits and we should be safe and adhere to them.

When is the boat likely to be sailing again?
BB: We could be back in the water by Wednesday but there is too much wind forecast; there is a system coming through here at the moment…Hopefully we’ll be sailing again on Thursday.

Can you be more precise about the breakage?
BB: We had a minor breakage in the boat, but it had nothing to do with the modification that we had made, it was something that probably would have broken anyway and it is just part of the development process we are going through.