There’ll be carnage on the water, say skippers
Expect the carnage to continue - that’s the message from the men behind the wheels of the flying America’s Cup catamarans.
The buildup to the regatta has been dogged by unwanted incidents – crashes, capsizes, breakages and crew lost overboard.
That might increase as the regatta intensifies, warned the six helmsman when they fronted the opening media conference in Bermuda yesterday.
Cup organisers have already taken an early decision to postpone the opening day of racing from today to tomorrow because winds are forecasted to exceed the top safety limit of 24 knots for these temperamental boats which can foil at speeds approaching 90kmh.
‘‘They are challenging boats to sail and just getting it around the course on your own is often difficult enough,’’ said Australian Nathan Outteridge, who helms the impressive Artemis Racing of Sweden.
‘‘Throw another boat in the mix doing defensive manoeuvres in the prestart and it’s very easy to misjudge something by less than a foot and you end up touching.
‘‘I don’t think anything ever is intentional out there. But you push hard and the further the competition goes on the higher the risk becomes, the harder people are going to push and I think we’ll see plenty of action towards the end of the month.’’
Ben Ainslie ramming Team New Zealand during a pre-start to a practice race last week has been the most costly of the early mishaps, forcing the Kiwis into four days of repairs.
‘‘I’m sure it’s not going to get less,’’ Team Japan’s Dean Barker