A crane failure has left Team New Zealand having to assess damage to their AC75 Taihoro following the opening day of the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series. 

The defender, competing in the round-robin stage of the series but not scoring points, kicked things off with an impressive race win over Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. However, when their vessel was being lifted on to its cradle after the day’s action “the crane failed”, with the boat landing heavily. 

Team NZ said all members of the team were safe, but gave no indication as to the extent of any damage Taihoro might have sustained in the incident. 

“While retrieving the AC75 from sailing today the crane failed while lifting on to its cradle and landed heavily. All team members are safe. The extent of the damage will have to be assessed as soon as possible,” they said in a statement. 

With each team only allowed to build one AC75 for the 37th edition of the Cup, protecting the asset will be Team NZ’s top priority as they look to defend the Auld Mug in October. 

It was an unfortunate end to a day that went well for the defenders on the water, beating Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in their match race by 12 seconds. 

In tricky conditions, Luna Rossa edged out ahead of the Kiwis early and secured the favoured lefthand side of the course. 

But with the breeze picking up from earlier in the day, both sides of the course had breeze on offer and by the third leg, the Italians were working to protect that side of the course instead. It was doing so that ultimately cost them the race as Team NZ were able to pull off an impressive pass just before the third gate after Luna Rossa had tacked to keep their advantage. 

Rather than tacking away to get into clean air, Team NZ stayed on the hip of Luna Rossa and in a matter of seconds they had taken the lead; the only lead change across the day’s four races. 

“Honestly, I realised late that they didn’t tack there, so that’s my bad for this,” Luna Rossa port helmsman Francesco Bruni said on the broadcast after the race. 

“There was a little mistake in communication there, but overall we must be pretty happy with how we sailed that race.” 

Team New Zealand beat Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli on the opening day of the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series. Photo / Ian Roman, America's Cup 

Once they took the lead, Team NZ kicked on; reading the breeze well, keeping the Italians at bay and closing out a beautifully managed race. 

“It was an awesome race. We wanted the left and were quite happy with the way we held them out there and then they got a bit more of an advantage than we thought and crossed us quite comfortably,” Team NZ starboard helmsman Peter Burling said on the broadcast after the race. 

“But the way we just held in there instead of doing what we did against American Magic in the prelims was really pleasing for the group and we took that opportunity when it arose.” 

While races featuring the defender are essentially just practice for the teams involved as no points are on offer, Burling said their opening tilt against Luna Rossa proved why it would be beneficial for both defender and challengers for them to be on the water for this part of the competition. 

“With every race we do we get better. It’s obviously nice to have an opponent to duke it out with and I’m sure they’ll get stronger from that as well and it won’t make life so easy next time.” 

Orient Express turned plenty of heads in the first race of the series, with an impressive win over Switzerland’s Alinghi Red Bull Racing. 

The last challenger to enter was the first to put a point on the board in the series, executing their start perfectly to secure the left and get the better of the breeze. That set them up for a strong race, showing their speed and sailing the boat well. 

The French came into the regatta as the rank outsider, but it is hard to know exactly where they stand after day one as they were beaten comfortably by Luna Rossa in the last race of the day. 

In the day’s third race, American Magic got stung by the light conditions in the starting box, coming off their foils and giving up a big lead to Ineos Britannia. The race was over before it began, but the Americans made up plenty of ground down the back end of the race to finish a respectable 14 seconds back. 

Day one results 

Orient Express Racing Team (France) beat Alinghi Red Bull Racing (Switzerland) by 24sec. 

Emirates Team New Zealand (NZ) beat Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (Italy) by 12sec. 

Ineos Britannia (UK) beat American Magic (USA) by 14sec. 

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli beat Orient Express Racing Team by 1min24sec. 

Louis Vuitton Cup standings 

Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli 1-0 

Ineos Britannia 1-0 

Orient Express Racing Team 1-1 

American Magic 0-1 

Alinghi Red Bull Racing 0-1 

Team NZ do not accrue points in the challenger series round robins. 

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.