Team New Zealand boat Taihoro in Barcelona. Photo: TEAM NEW ZEALAND
Team New Zealand will not race in the America's Cup Challenger Series on Saturday after their boat was dropped following racing Friday morning.
Taihoro was dropped a number of metres onto its cradle as it was being lifted out of the water.
The team did an initial assessment and has decided they needed more time to fully inspect the boat.
In a statement Team New Zealand said the boat had been secured with a portable crane and was back in the shed where the full extent of the damage would be assessed.
"From initial assessments a call has been made that Team New Zealand will not be sailing tomorrow.
"Once further investigation is made in the following 24 hours and a full plan for the repair of Taihoro is in place, the team will give a further update on the duration of time the team will be off the water."
Team New Zealand chief executive Grant Dalton said it was a setback for the team.
"These are the moments that can define an America's Cup campaign, and we have an amazing group of dedicated and talent people who will be working around the clock on getting the boat repaired.
"We will not be sailing tomorrow at least, and will provide further updates on the outlook in due course."
The incident happened just after they had beaten Italian outfit Luna Rossa by 12 seconds in their opening race of the Challenger Series.
They were scheduled to meet Britania and Orient Express of France tomorrow.
Team New Zealand was competing in the round-robin part of the Challenger Series.
They defend the America's Cup in October.
