New Zealand, the America's Cup defenders, were back in the water Saturday after repairing damage to their AC75 that was sustained when they pulled it out of water two days earlier.

New Zealand's monohull foiling boat suffered serious damage while being lifted ashore following the first day of competition for the oldest sporting trophy in the world, the "Auld Mug".

The Kiwi shore crew worked around the clock in order to return the Kiwi team onto the Mediterranean near Barcelona. They missed only one day's racing.

New Zealand stated in a press release that the boat had performed as expected following repairs. They were pleased with its performance. However, they didn't get to finish a race because their competitors France had equipment issues.

Grant Dalton, the Team CEO, described the team's efforts to repair the bottom of a hull by cutting out a section that was broken. He said it was "like building a brand new boat."

After racing, the America's Cup yachts are craned onto land and placed on large cradles that protect their foils and rudders. The teams work on the boats in "sheds", which are like hangars.

New Zealand, as defenders, does not need to qualify for the final head-to-head, but instead participates in the round robin series, which is an early stage of the competition to determine which five possible challengers will face them in October.

The United States, Britain, France and Italy have entered teams to compete in the high-tech "boats" that travel on hydrofoils above the water.

The double round-robin series continues on Sunday. All the teams will compete against each other two times. This will determine which four teams advance to the semi-finals which begin in mid-September. (Reporting and editing by Pritha Sakar; Alexander Smith)

(source: Reuters)