Burling accepts error on start line
Sailing followers rode the waves of emotion as the America’s Cup racing finally got underway on the Waitemata Harbour.
Honours are even between defenders Team New Zealand and the challengers Luna Rossa, with one win each on Wednesday’s opening day of sailing.
Two more races are scheduled for this afternoon.
Te Rehutai helmsman Peter Burling rued what he called a “simple mistake” on the start line of race two, saying it cost the defenders a chance to make it two wins from two races, but he was still satisfied with their showing.
“You go into a day to try and win two but it’s good to walk away with one,” Burling said.
“After having not raced for three months, we’re pretty happy.”
For Burling the outcome of day one was not a surprise.
“We probably learnt what we already knew, we knew we’d have a really good challenge from Luna Rossa, we knew that we’d improved a lot since the World Series, but after today we also know what we have to do to keep winning yacht races,” he said.
“We definitely didn’t feel like we put our best foot forward in that second yacht race but on that last lap we started to string together a few shifts and actually sail the boat a bit better and the margin came down pretty quick.”
Luna Rossa co-helmsman Francesco Bruni was pleased racing had started so a few myths could be busted and all the speculation could stop.
“We knew that when we heard rumours about Team New Zealand being 10 knots faster it was a clear mistake and we knew that Luna Rossa had improved since the last time we had met Team New Zealand, we were not sure if it was a small gap or any gap.
“I think it was a very positive day because, in conditions when Team New Zealand should have destroyed us, they didn’t.”
Luna Rossa’s other helmsman, Jimmy Spithill, also gave the opening day a pass mark.
“For us, it was a real sign of strength I thought to bounce back after a tough first race.
“Something we’ve been working on for a long time is not getting too wound up whether we win or lose.
“It’s just focus on the next race and we had to put that into play.”
However, Burling was not worried about the Italians’ response.
“You know it’s what we prepared for, we prepared for a good fight and it’s going to be a great series.”