New Zealand replacing part of boat's hull after it was dropped by crane on 1st day of America's Cup

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Emirates Team New Zealand worked Friday to replace a piece of the hull of its boat that was damaged in a crane incident after the opening race of its America’s Cup title defense.

The mishap happened late on Thursday when the 75-foot Taihoro yacht was being removed from the water after racing.

Team leader Grant Dalton said the multimillion-dollar boat fell some six meters (20 feet) onto the support cradle on their team base inside Barcelona’s old port. Dalton said the impact sounded “like a bomb went off.” He and skipper Peter Burling inspected the boat after a crew had lifted the tips of its critically important hydrofoils off the concrete ground.

Dalton said Thursday that the repair job could keep his team sidelined throughout the double round-robin phase that lasts through next week.

But less than 24 hours later Dalton said that enough work had been done overnight to give him hope they could be back on the water sooner than he had first expected.

“It’s possible that we could be back out by tomorrow,” the CEO of the team and race said.

“I think that were pretty lucky. If it had fallen 200 millimeters to other side it could have been a whole bunch worse, but it fell into the cradle, perfectly into the cradle,” he said. “The guys have literally cut out a hole, it looks like the Titanic.”

Missing any racing time is a setback, but it should be manageable as long as the boat can be refitted in the coming days or even weeks since as defending champions the Kiwis are guaranteed a spot in the finals held in October.

The incident means that New Zealand didn't participate in the two races it was scheduled for Friday. That won’t impact the standings since its races don’t count; they are essentially only for practice to keep the team sharp for the final.

American Magic got its first point and handed Switzerland's Alinghi Red Bull Racing a second straight defeat after a race where both teams struggled to find wind and spent long periods of time inching along in the water. The race control shortened the race from six to four legs to keep it from dragging on. It still lasted 31 minutes.

“It wasn’t pretty at all. It’s just tough conditions,” American Magic helmsman Tom Slingsby said. “I would have loved to foil across the line, but we just did what we had to do to get the win.”

The Americans were also supposed to face Italy’s Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli later in on Friday but the race was postponed due to low winds.

One of the five challengers will be eliminated after the opening phase before the final four enter a two-round playoff series.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

Emirates Team New Zealand’s boat is shown after it was damaged when the crane failed while removing it from the water after racing on the opening day of the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona, Spain. (AP Photo/Joseph Wilson)

Emirates Team New Zealand head Grant Dalton inspects the foil tip of his team’s America’s Cup boat after it was damaged when a crane failed while moving it from the water to its cradle after the opening day of racing on Thursday Aug. 29, 2024 in Barcelona, Spain. (AP Photo/Joseph Wilson)

Emirates Team New Zealand inspects the team’s America’s Cup boat after it was damaged when a crane failed while moving it from the water to its cradle after the opening day of racing on Thursday Aug. 29, 2024 in Barcelona, Spain. (AP Photo/Joseph Wilson)

Emirates Team New Zealand inspects the team’s America’s Cup boat after it was damaged when a crane failed while moving it from the water to its cradle after the opening day of racing on Thursday Aug. 29, 2024 in Barcelona, Spain. (AP Photo/Joseph Wilson)

Emirates Team New Zealand inspects the team’s America’s Cup boat after it was damaged when a crane failed while moving it from the water to its cradle after the opening day of racing on Thursday Aug. 29, 2024 in Barcelona, Spain. (AP Photo/Joseph Wilson)

Emirates Team New Zealand inspects the team’s America’s Cup boat after it was damaged when a crane failed while moving it from the water to its cradle after the opening day of racing on Thursday Aug. 29, 2024 in Barcelona, Spain. (AP Photo/Joseph Wilson)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine made a new call Saturday on the West to allow it to strike deeper into Russia after a meeting between U.S. and British leaders a day earlier produced no visible shift in their policy on the use of long-range weapons.

“Russian terror begins at weapons depots, airfields, and military bases inside the Russian Federation,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Andriy Yermak said Saturday. “Permission to strike deep into Russia will speed up the solution.”

The renewed appeal came as Kyiv said Russia launched more drone and artillery attacks into Ukraine overnight.

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly called on allies to greenlight the use of Western-provided long-range weapons to strike targets deep inside Russian territory. So far, the U.S. has allowed Kyiv to use American-provided weapons only in a limited area inside Russia’s border with Ukraine.

Discussions on allowing long-range strikes were believed to be on the table when U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met in Washington on Friday but no decision was announced immediately.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pressing the U.S. and other allies to allow his forces to use Western weapons to target air bases and launch sites farther afield as Russia has stepped up assaults on Ukraine’s electricity grid and utilities before winter.

He did not directly comment on the meeting Saturday morning, but said that more than 70 Russian drones had been launched into Ukraine overnight. The Ukrainian air force later said that 76 Russian drones had been sighted, of which 72 were shot down.

“We need to boost our air defense and long-range capabilities to protect our people,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media. “We are working on this with all of Ukraine’s partners.”

Other overnight attacks saw one person killed by Russian artillery fire as energy infrastructure was targeted in Ukraine’s Sumy region. A 54-year-old driver was killed and seven more people were hospitalized, Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy said.

A KAB aerial bomb also fell on a garage complex in the eastern city of Kharkiv, said regional Gov. Ihor Terekhov. No injuries were reported.

Meanwhile, officials in Moscow have continued to make public statements warning that long-range strikes would provoke further escalation between Russia and the West. The remarks are in line with the narrative the Kremlin has promoted since early in the war, accusing NATO countries of de-facto participation in the conflict and threatening a response.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state news agency Tass on Saturday that the U.S. and British governments were pushing the conflict, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, toward “poorly controlled escalation.”

Biden on Friday brushed off similar comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said on Thursday that allowing long-range strikes “would mean that NATO countries, the United States and European countries, are at war with Russia.”

Asked what he thought about Putin’s threat, Biden answered, “I don’t think much about Vladimir Putin.”

Russian and Ukrainian officials also announced on Saturday a prisoner swap brokered by the United Arab Emirates. It included 206 prisoners on both sides, including Russians captured in Ukraine’s incursion in the Kursk region.

The swap is the eighth of its kind since the beginning of 2024, and puts the total number of POWs exchanged at 1,994. Previous exchanges were also brokered by the UAE.

Both sides released images of soldiers traveling to meet friends and family, with Zelenskyy commenting, “Our people are home."

Elsewhere, Russia’s Defense Ministry said that 19 Ukrainian drones had been shot down over the country’s Kursk and Belgorod regions. No casualties were reported.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

A Ukrainian poses for a selfie as he is greeted after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainians pose for a photo after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainians pose for a photo after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainians pose for a photo after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

A Ukrainian reacts after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainians react after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

A Ukrainian serviceman, left, is greeted after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)