TNZ blame British ‘love tap’ for collision
Crash shows it’s game on - Barker
Frustrated Team New Zealand crew and management laid the blame squarely with British ace Ben Ainslie after he significantly damaged the Kiwi boat in a Bermuda collision.
And Ainslie didn’t shy away from his mistake, apologising for the ‘‘love tap’’ and hoping the Kiwis would get back on the water soon.
Team New Zealand helmsman Peter Burling outsmarted the most decorated sailor in Olympic history in pre-start manoeuvres yesterday. But the result was major damage to the rear of the Team New Zealand catamaran as Ainslie mistimed a turn bearing away and collided.
The untimely accident came a day after the Kiwis had been forced out fo the opening day of the latest practice session with rudder issues.
They returned to action in 10-15 knots of wind yesterday and looked impressive in beating Ben Ainslie Racing and Team France in earlier tussles before disaster struck.
‘‘It was a bit of a shame in the last pre start we had the leeward end of the line pretty locked down, Ben was quite late and just ran straight into the back of us,’’ helmsman Burling lamented.
‘‘Just unnecessary a week out from the America’s Cup. We are all here to learn and it’s a shame we have a pretty big metre dent in the back of our nice boat.
‘‘It went straight in under the media pod with his windward bow and right down the inside of the leeward hull, so there is a pretty good dent there. You can definitely see it has punctured right into the cockpit right around where my steering wheel is.’’
The Brits, who have been struggling for speed in the leadup to the 35th edition of the America’s Cup, suffered minor bow damage.
Team New Zealand gave no indication of how long it would take to repair their boat. There are three more days of practice racing this week but the Kiwis are also under pressure to have their AC50 measured and approved.
The latest incident, less than 10 days out from the start of official racing, didn’t sit well with Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton.
‘‘We know Ben well. He is a good guy but frustration is obviously getting to him and the red mist came down and it’s a lot of damage in a time we can’t afford it,’’ Dalton said.
Team New Zealand skipper Glenn Ashby rued the setback after his boat and crew had looked impressive in their earlier wins, showing good speed and control.
‘‘Up until the last race with BAR we had a bloody nice day. We got the boat around the track really well, in really nice yachting conditions, but very unfortunate to get a hole in the boat on a practice race. I don’t think Ben will be feeling too happy about it at the moment,’’ Ashby said.
‘‘We won the pre-start and then Ben came in behind us with a little bit of extra pace.’’
Ainslie later tweeted his apologies to Team New Zealand. ’’Sorry guys and hope you’re back on the water soon,’’ he said.
Oracle Team USA, who were seen using their lone cycling grinder, and impressive Swedish challenger Artemis Racing were also reported to have suffered damage Dean Barker says Team New Zealand’s collision damage is a sign of the aggressive approach being taken by America’s Cup syndicates in the countdown to the start of the regatta.
Less than 10 days out from the opening gun, Team New Zealand suffered a major setback when they had the rear of one of their hulls significantly damaged in a highspeed collision with Britain’s Ben Ainslie Racing yesterday.
Ainslie was at fault, and while his boat’s bow was damaged, the Kiwis, who had looked impressive in winning two earlier practice races, came off second best, and were left facing urgent repairs.
Barker, the Team Japan CEO and skipper, felt the latest block of practice racing showed how much the stakes were being raised among the six syndicates.
‘‘Two surprises over the past two days? One has been how aggressive the practice racing has seemed to become, evidenced by a pretty decent collision between two of the boats,’’ Barker said on his team’s website.
‘‘Two, I think the way the level has continued to rise. You expected a plateau but the game is on to one up each other right now.
‘‘How much space is left to
"The level has continued to rise. You expected a plateau but the game is on." Dean Barker
on the second day of practice racing and withdrew.
In other results Team Japan beat the British but suffered a loss to Oracle. Britain’s only win came against strugglers Team France. Artemis also beat France.
The latest incident isn’t just damaging to Team New Zealand’s pedal-powered boat, but is another evolve? The minute you might think about tapping out you would get gobbled up. Sometimes they might be very small or incremental gains but it all counts in the end.’’
Barker, the former Team New Zealand skipper axed after the 2013 Cup final loss, talked up his team’s reliability and felt defenders Oracle were making improvements. Team Japan has been working in partnership with Oracle in design and training.
Interestingly Team New Zealand claimed that neither Oracle or Team Japan wanted to race them yesterday.
‘‘As far as the pecking order, I think Oracle have made a good little step as of late,’’ Barker said.
‘‘Our reliability has been very good this week which has been encouraging. To start each race on time is a huge part of it while we’re still seeing other teams struggling with reliability.
‘‘Losing just one race is going to be pretty expensive.’’
unwanted setback as countdown clock ticks away.
Team NZ missed the bulk of the practice sessions because of their late arrival to Bermuda and then their need to get their radical pedal-powered boat reassembled and tuned in.
Now the shore crew faces long hours in repair mode.
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