Collision adds to Team NZ’s woes
Damage from pre-start crash could keep boat off water for days
Team New Zealand’s preparations for this month’s America’s Cup have gone from bad to worse after the Kiwi boat was rear-ended by British team Ben Ainslie Racing during practice racing in Bermuda yesterday.
The Emirates Team New Zealand shore crew face a round-the-clock effort to get the boat back on the water for the remaining practice racing sessions this week after the hull of the boat was punctured in a pre-start collision with the Brits.
The New Zealand camp have described the actions of British skipper Ben Ainslie, after whom the team is named, as “unnecessary” and a result of “frustration getting the better” of the four-time Olympic champion.
The damage could keep Team NZ off the water for several days — a setback Glenn Ashby and crew can ill-afford with the start of America’s Cup racing just nine days away.
Ainslie responded to the collision with an apology and a light-hearted reference to the ding.
“Bit of a love tap racing hard with @EmiratesTeamNZ,” Ainslie tweeted.
“Sorry guys and hope you’re back on the water soon.”
Ainslie’s tweet drew strong reaction with a some followers accusing his team of deliberately ploughing into the back of the Team NZ boat.
The incident occurred during the second match-up of the day between the two teams. Team NZ had won the earlier race and were in good shape to get off the line first in the second after helmsman Peter Burling had secured the favoured leeward end, shutting out Ainslie and the Land Rover BAR boat.
“Ben was quite late and just ran straight into the back of us,” Burling explained. “It’s 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 now in the back of our nice boat.”
Team NZ chief executive Grant Dalton believes Ainslie got carried away. “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.”
Yesterday’s incident comes after Team NZ missed the opening day of the final practice racing window after shredding their rudder pre-race.
They were able to swap out the damaged rudder and return to the course, but missed their racing slots and had to make do with a couple of informal drag races against rivals.
Heading into this week’s crucial five-day block of practice racing, Team NZ sailing coach Ray Davies told the Herald it was important the crew made the most of their oppor- Team New Zealand will not only be up against perhaps the finest sailor ever when they go hunting the America’s Cup in Bermuda . . .
Russell Coutts, a man reviled as much as he is revered, could well be the greatest sportsperson this country has ever produced, if indeed such a category exists.
It’s a bitter pill for the Coutts naysayers to swallow, but when you collate what he has achieved on and off the water over such a long time, it’s almost impossible to find anyone to compare.
Olympic gold medallist, world champion and cup regatta winner come tumbling off his CV, like wasps out of a nest no doubt to those who still fume over his penchant for switching international camps, dealing to his country in the process.
His reputation, the icy assassin thing, means that his achievements don’t get the accolades they deserve.
But he is, in every sense, a sports genius. If Grant Dalton and the blooming prodigy Peter Burling — or any other team such as Sweden’s Artemis Racing — can plot his demise, they will be true legends.
But for my landlubber’s money, team boss Coutts is the reason why Oracle USA will prevail yet again because he is the man most likely to find order out of chaos. He doesn’t do failure: every hiccup is a blip on the learning curve, another log on the competitive fires.
He is unbeatable in the America’s Cup, and the reversal he engineered in San Francisco — one that too many New Zealanders sneered at — ranks among the most staggering comebacks in international sport.
While talking to a yachting luminary this week, I mentioned that tunities, having missed all but one day of the previous four practice racing blocks. The collision was a bitter end to an otherwise good day on the water for the Kiwi syndicate. Team NZ won both of the races it sailed against Land Rover BAR and Groupama Team France after both Oracle and Softbank Team Japan refused to line up against Ashby and Co.
“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,” said Ashby.
The The British team reported they sustained limited damage to their bow in the collision.