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New Zealand's catamaran capsized during America's Cup semifinal match «»

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Yesterday's windy day in Bermuda was full of exciting action, culminating in a New Zealand flip.

On the pre-start of the final race of the day, Emirates Team New Zealand went high on the foils, chasing Land Rover BAR, and then made a pitchpole - a rollover over the bow.

Three crew members ended up in the water, with the rest hanging on to their seats at the foot-powered winches in the cockpit. ETNZ's rivals Land Rover BAR team immediately slowed down and British skipper Ben Ainslie gave the command to their escort boat to assist the New Zealanders. The ETNZ catamaran stood upright for a few minutes, with its bow in the water and its stern in the air, before falling on its side, allowing the crew to return it to its normal position. No one on the crew was injured, but the boat is in need of repair.

Most of the visible damage is cosmetic, but the top of the fender-sail is badly dented. The situation is complicated by the fact that this wing-sail is a spare.

Emirates Team New Zealand's main sail was damaged before the start of the first race of the day with Land Rover BAR, which, incidentally, it won by a big two-minute margin.

The Kiwis have just overnight to repair the catamaran. However, the winds are forecast to be so strong on Wednesday that the race may have to be postponed until the following day. That will give the Kiwi engineers some more time.

The real heroes of the second day of the America's Cup playoffs «» were SoftBank Team Japan with the experienced Dean Barker at the helm. They managed to win both of their duels with Artemis in spite of the fact that both Japanese and Swedish boats were damaged in the first race by losing their fairings.

The wind speed on June 6 in Bermuda reached 21 knots.

«The second day of the America's Cup semi-final», New Zealand leads 3-1 over Britain and Japan beats Sweden by the same score.

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