New Zealand scare after capsizing on dramatic day
Boat badly damaged at start of race against GB Six-man crew all safe as Ainslie senses new hope
It was, Sir Ben Ainslie said, the most incredible day of sailing he had experienced in his life. “I’d liken it to skiing on ice,” he said. “You really have to go for it as fast as you can. If you try to play it safe, that’s almost worse. It was absolutely mindblowing. I’m sure it made for good TV.”
That it certainly did. What an advert for this new style of America’s Cup. Although to be clear this was scary, scary stuff. Nail-biting. Winds in excess of 20 knots, crossing speeds four times that, boats literally being torn to shreds on Bermuda’s normally tranquil Sound. And at the end of it all a terrifying ‘pitchpole’ for New Zealand which left their boat badly damaged, their young helmsman Peter Burling under immense pressure, and the British challenger with a lifeline.
The capsize, which came right at the start of the teams’ second race of the day, saw the Kiwis’ hulls plunge down into the water as Burling attempted to bear away, sending his boat cartwheeling straight over its multi-million pound wingsail.
Given the fatal accident involving a British sailor, Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson, in a similar – albeit larger – foiling America’s Cup catamaran four years ago, the sailing world held its breath. Thankfully the six-man New Zealand crew were all quickly accounted for. Three of them were still in the boat after it capsized while three were thrown from it.
The extent of the damage to their boat was still unclear last night. And in turn what it might eventually cost New Zealand in terms of their play-off semi-final against Land Rover BAR. One hour after the accident the boat was still out on the Sound, being battered by the wind and the rain as it was nursed back to its base in Bermuda’s Royal Naval Dockyard.
The bare facts are the Kiwis now lead the first-to-five series 3-1. But this point for Britain, the way they competed yesterday, not to mention the damage to the Kiwi boat, definitely gives Ainslie’s team a sniff.
The British team had been talking up Ainslie’s aggression and prestart antics all week. Whether Burling – only 26 years old and the youngest helm at this Cup – was trying too hard to respond to that chatter or whether he just made a poor decision, he attempted what Ainslie described as a “tough” bear away.
“It looked to me like a slight misjudgement on the angle,” Ainslie said. “I’m not going to pass judgment. We’ve all been there.”
Burling – who held his press conference later, separately from the other helmsmen – held his hands up to the error but claimed it was not pressure that led to it. He said he did “not really care” where the British boat was at the start, he was just concentrating on getting his boat away safely.
The New Zealanders are likely to be given at least a day’s reprieve with the forecast for today even spicier than yesterday, although Ainslie – clearly feeling more positive about the state of play – said he would be happy to go again if the wind readings came in below the 24-knot limit. “It was an amazing day of sailing, certainly the most exciting and exhilarating I’ve ever been involved in. I’m not sure ‘fun’ is the right word. It’s exhilarating. I’ve never been in an atmosphere as tense as this before.”
All the sailors felt it. Iain Percy, the double Olympic champion who leads Artemis Racing, completely lost his cool with chief umpire Richard Slater after the Swedish team – who now trail Japan 3-1 – were twice penalised in their second race. “This is absolutely ridiculous,” Percy fumed. “You wait until I get back on shore Richard.”