Injured American Magic helmsman Goodison will miss start of America's Cup playoffs

BARCELONA, Spain — American Magic co-helmsman Paul Goodison said in a social media post Friday that he broke five ribs when he fell into a an open hatch aboard Patriot after racing six days earlier in the America's Cup challenger trials.

The team, backed by the New York Yacht Club, has been largely mum about Goodison's injury, other than co-helmsman Tom Slingsby saying Friday that Goodison was hurt when he “had a fall on the boat.”

Goodison later posted on social media that he was hurt when he fell into an open hatch in the hull while helping prepare the boat for towing back to port after racing last Saturday.

“I was lifting the mainsail across the deck and fell through an open hatch into the hull,” Goodison wrote. “I struggled to breathe after the impact, but the extent of the injury wasn’t fully clear until further examination and imaging at the hospital. I’m now working closely with the medical team to assess my return to racing as soon as possible, while continuing to support the team’s path to the semifinals.”

Slingsby said Goodison won’t be ready to sail when American Magic faces Italy’s Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals on Saturday, and did not have a timeline for when his co-skipper might be back in action.

“Unfortunately, he won't be with us tomorrow. We are still taking it day by day for when he will return,” Slingsby said at a news conference. “We all wish Goodie a quick recovery and we hope that we can still see him in this competition.”

Goodison was an Olympic gold medalist in 2008. This is his third America’s Cup overall and his second with American Magic.

In the meantime, substitute Lucas Calabrese will remain in Goodison’s place on port helm.

Slingsby said that Goodison was still under medical supervision, but that the team was hopeful he could be back. The team would not say whether Goodison was hospitalized.

“The doctors are with him each day and assessing him each day. He was weighed in for our team, so we are hopeful that he will be joining us again," Slingsby said. “It's a tough one where he really wants to be out there with us, but he is not able to at the moment. It's just going to be assessing how quickly he can feel ready to come back on join us.”

The first-to-five-wins series against Luna Rossa begins Saturday, with INEOS Britannia facing Alinghi Red Bull Racing in the other playoff. That will be followed by the Louis Vuitton Cup finals starting on Sept. 26, whose winner will then face defending champion New Zealand in the America’s Cup finals starting on Oct. 12.