Oracle Team USA have capsized their America’s Cup catamaran in Bermuda, flipping the boat while training.
The defenders posted an update on Twitter that their boat USA-17 capsized during pre-start practice
"No injuries to the crew and damage appears to be limited" said the team.
It comes a day after Oracle were spotted with a cycle pedestal on the boat, possibly following Emirates Team New Zealand's lead with pedal-powered grinding.
"Not sure whether that (capsize) was due to a different set up on their boat or not but certainly everyone's pushing hard", Team New Zealand skipper Glenn Ashby told Newshub from Bermuda.
"Everyone's got to keep things on their wheels as much as you can."
Oracle's grinding setup raised a few eyebrows when it was spotted by the Kiwis yesterday.
"Bit of an interesting one" said Ashby.
"Certainly everyone's been head down, beavering away. Those guys have obviously been seeing what we've been doing and thinking it's not as bad as they thought after all."
Rumours had been circulating that Oracle had been exploring the cycle-grinding setup, but what was spotted yesterday was a lone bike position occupied by tactician Tom Slingsby just behind helmsman Jimmy Spithill.
It was only tested before the team went sailing with a conventional setup.
"We did notice some sort of pedalling apparatus in the rear cockpit where on the downwind a crew member could be in behind the helmsman and put in some power to either trim the wing sheet off a winch or in a hydraulic situation they could top up the accumulators."
But Ashby says they don’t know how far Oracle might take the setup.
"Only time will tell I guess in the end. What they'll ultimately end up with in their configuration down the track, we've effectively have no control over what they do with the setup of their boat. We're 100% comfortable with the path we've chosen."
"At this late stage of proceedings big development changes often come with their consequences, so it'll be interesting what happens in the next week or so."
The first race of the Louis Vuitton Qualifiers is set for just over a fortnight on May 27 (NZT).
Newshub.
