SailGP championships leaders Australia have copped boat damage and a dent to their title tilt in extreme conditions on a chaotic opening day to the New York event off Manhattan.
With wind gusts of more than 40/h battering the race course, craning operations to lift boats onto the water were limited and, with time running out, organisers opted to put only the four leading teams - Australia, Britain, Spain and the US - out for Saturday's racing.
The Aussies (BONDS Flying Roos) were knocked out before racing even began when their F50 catamaran nose-dived severely following an on-board hydraulic issue.
