A remarkable turnaround from NYYC American Magic as they're back in the water on Wednesday for the first time in 10 days and Sailing Illustrated's Founder, Publisher and Editor Tom Enham feels it is just the start of them turning their fortunes around.
After suffering a dramatic capsize in their last outing against Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, the American's have been working around the clock to fix the sizable damage to their boat 'Patriot'.
Even with the boat basically fixed, American Magic still have a lot of work ahead of them to be ready for Friday's first semi-final race but Enham is confident they'll be on the start line.
"If anybody can do it it's Terry Hutchinson and the resources the New York Yacht Club have," Enham tells the AM Show. "Firstly, they have to get measured, declare their configuration and then get out on the water and fix any issues they discover before going for it on Friday."
With conditions on Friday expecting to be very breezy with wind gusting up to 21 knots, it'll be a tough introduction back for Hutchinson's men.
"It's probably just the opposite of what American Magic would like," he says. "They would like a softer day to go out for the first time and race in anger but if anybody can do it they will, and it puts a big exciting exclamation point on this series."
Whenever anyone has a serious crash in any form it can really harm your nerves. So it'll be interesting to see how Dean Barker and his crew respond to the gusty conditions on Friday, which will be very similar to what they experienced when they capsized.
New York Yacht Club has a history of bad crashes, which have affected the crew's confidence and Enham is worried this could be the same.
"Of course, that's always in the back of their mind and ignoring the PR from the team saying we're self-confident, we can go out and do this, historically it's tough," he says. "In 2000, New York Yacht Club's Young America, their boat fractured and began to bend up like a banana and was towed back in.
"It was fixed but they were never the same after that and historically in the America's Cup, it's a tough ask.
"This team can do it but the doubts will remain in their minds."
The American's lowered their boat 'Patriot' back into the water on Wednesday morning for the first time in 10 days since the capsize. The boat featured a 'bandaid' design covering the hole featuring the flags of the countries that helped them.
Racing gets back underway on Friday with the first two Prada Cup semi-finals between American Magic and Luna Rossa. The action will continue over the weekend until one side reaches four wins, which will see them progress to the final to take on Sir Ben Ainslie's INEOS Team UK.
Join us at 3pm Friday for live updates of the America's Cup challenger series semi-final.
