American Magic could be packing up their Auckland base as soon as Saturday night if they can't find an instant remedy to their winless streak.
Luna Rossa and American Magic in the semi-finals of the America's Cup Challenger Selection Series. Photo: Studio Borlenghi
Racing for the first time since their capsize 11 days ago, American Magic were off the pace in the opening races of the America's Cup Challenger Selection Series semi-finals against Luna Rossa.
The Italians won both of Friday's races comprehensively, taking the lead from start to finish in two races in different conditions on the Waitemata Harbour.
Luna Rossa won the first race by 2 minutes and 43 seconds in strong winds and the second by 3 minutes and 7 seconds in lighter winds.
American Magic have not won a race during the Challenger Selection Series and now face a must-win situation on Saturday.
The first team to win four races in the semi-finals series moves on to face Team UK in the challengers series finals.
Friday's result upset American Magic skipper Terry Hutchinson and he expects the team to be better.
"We have to understand the mistakes that we made and improve upon them," Hutchinson said.
"Personally I'm reasonably pissed off because I hate losing, it's no more complicated than that. There's nothing that gets you going more than having your teeth kicked in."
Hutchinson said the team wouldn't make radical changes overnight but they would debrief the double defeat with a "critical eye".
"It's not too steep of a mountain to climb. I would use the example of the last 12 days of what we've done as a team to dispute that, and if you need any more motivation than winning you're probably in the wrong game."
Luna Rossa were racing with a better boat on Friday than they had during the round robin series, according to helmsman Francesco Bruni.
"I think we made some big improvements after the round robin, the boat is sailing a lot better, faster and more consistent, more stable - so speed and stability they go a long way," Bruni said.
Pre-planning their moves in the tricky conditions also paid off for the Italians.
"There is no time for last-minute calls and if you do one you're really doing something that you shouldn't, so pre-plan the day and try to keep everybody cool and calm because the conditions were very very hard."
Racing continues just after 3pm on Saturday with two more scheduled races in winds forecast to be around 12-13 knots.