Alinghi 5, Ernesto Bertarelli’s recently launched catamaran, has been undergoing test sails in Genoa, Italy. However, reports today claim that the Swiss team’s America’s Cup boat suffered a major structural failure whilst out in light winds.

The Guardian newspaper’s Bob Fisher reported that “the carbon-fibre structural beam that runs from the centre of the main crossbeam at the mast to the aft cross beam close to the starboard hull, was fractured in the incident, which occurred in nine knots and a flat sea. The sails were dropped and the catamaran towed slowly back to its base, where the mast was removed immediately.”