One of the America’s Cup challengers, Alinghi Red Bull Racing, has suffered another mast breakage just days out from the preliminary regatta in Barcelona.
In a team statement, the co-general manager of Alinghi Red Bull Racing Silvio Arrivabene said everyone onboard the boat was safe and that an investigation would be carried out as to why the rig failure occurred.
The team were sailing upwind in a 12-knot breeze in Barcelona when, "all of a sudden, the mast came down".
"The events that occurred today were definitely surprising, particularly given the mild conditions," the team said in a statement. "No signs of overload were observed on the mast, which was newly acquired and had been in use for just 20 minutes."
The team from Switzerland had a similar mishap in June, when they broke their mast whilst training.
The Swiss team are scheduled to feature in the first race of the preliminary regatta later this week.
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