Oracle USA, Defending America's Cup Champion, Damages Boat

The bad luck for America's Cup competitors continues.

Defending champion Oracle Team USA's newest catamaran was damaged just minutes into its first day sailing on the bay on Tuesday, according to reports.

The 72-foot catamaran was sent back to the dock, with the team's older boat replacing it, according to Auckland Now.

The boat is the same model of catamaran that capsized and killed Andrew "Bart" Simpson on May 9. Simpson was a team strategist for challenger Artemis Racing.

Tuesday's damage to Oracle's boat -- "a strut on the headstay near where the jib attaches" was damaged, according to reports -- is the second time the champions have had trouble on the water.

Last year, Oracle's first boat capsized and was swept under the Golden Gate Bridge. The mishap caused the boat's mainsail to be "smashed," according to reports.

Racing begins July 7 for a two-team test match between Emirates Team New Zealand and Italy's Luna Rossa. Artemis should be back racing later that month in the Louis Vuitton Cup.

The winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup will then challenge Oracle for the America's Cup in September.