America’s Cup: Sailor injured after Alinghi crashes while training in Barcelona

Alinghi nosedived while training in Barcelona. Photo / America's Cup

A sailor has been injured after America’s Cup challenger Alinghi nosedived while training in Barcelona.

Alinghi, returning for next year’s regatta for the first time since the 2010 America’s Cup, crashed at high-speed and downwind as they sailed Team New Zealand’s modified first generation AC75 Te Aihe, which is being used by the Swiss syndicate as a testing boat.

The boat was flying too high on the foil and as the bow came down, the rudder broke the surface and grip was lost, causing the boat to nose dive quickly.

The jib ripped through impact and cyclor Nico Stahlberg was injured.

He was safely returned back to base after safety precautions with “minor injuries”.

Alinghi sailor Bryan Mettraux recounted the incident, saying: “We were exiting off a gybe and just flying too high on the exit and we lost the rudder. The boat [went] down really quickly. We had one of our grinders that is a bit injured but the news [about him is] pretty good.

“The crew did a good job to make him in a safe position.”

Footage of the crash was captured by the America’s Cup reconnaissance team.

The team resumed training about an hour later, with a replacement sailor brought on board and the jib replaced.

Alinghi, who are two-time America’s Cup champions, are one of six syndicates training ahead of the challenger series and America’s Cup match late next year in Barcelona.

Team NZ will soon ship their America’s Cup-winning AC75 Te Rehutai to Barcelona for training and testing, ahead of starting the build of their new boat to defend the Cup.