Emirates Team New Zealand capsized at the start of an America’s Cup challenger semifinal race Tuesday on Bermuda’s stormy Great Sound, throwing at least one crewman into the water and damaging the 50-foot catamaran.
Chase boats immediately converged on the catamaran and confirmed that all six crew members were accounted for.
It was a harrowing end to a chaotic afternoon of racing in squalls and wind that sometimes reached 25 knots.
The Kiwi boat appeared to get on its hydrofoils too quickly as it made a difficult maneuver and lost control, with its bows burying themselves in the water and the boat flipping in what’s called a pitch-pole, coming to rest with the top of the wing sail in the water. The catamaran eventually ended up on its port hull, with three crewmen still in the airborne starboard hull.
The catamaran was righted and the damage appeared to be extensive, particularly to the wing sail. There could also be damage to the boat’s electronic systems.
Britain’s Ben Ainslie, who crossed the starting line ahead of New Zealand, pulled up as soon as he realized what happened. Ainslie radioed to his support boat to go back and help the Kiwis.
The race was black-flagged, with Ainslie’s Land Rover BAR awarded the point.
Team New Zealand, skippered by 26-year-old Peter Burling, beat Ainslie earlier in the day and leads its best-of-9 match 3-1. But the shore team will have a long night’s work to repair the boat in time for Wednesday’s two scheduled races.
Ainslie said it appeared Burling made a slight misjudgment on rake and angle. “But all of us sitting here aren’t going to pass criticism,” the British sailing star said during a news conference. “These boats are incredibly hard to sail and these things can happen .Thank God, most importantly, everyone’s fine on the boat. I’m sure they’ll recover from that and be out there tomorrow or the next day.”
Ainslie said he’s never experienced a day like Tuesday in his 30 years of competitive sailing, and he’s one of the world’s most accomplished sailors. He is the most successful sailor in Olympic history, having won four gold medals and a silver. In 2013, he helped Oracle Team USA rebound from an 8-1 deficit to Team New Zealand by winning eight straight races to retain the oldest trophy in international sports. He then launched his own campaign, attempting to become the first Englishman to hoist the silver trophy in victory.
The mayhem came a day after Ainslie was forced to retire from two races because of serious damage to his wing sail.
In the other semifinal, SoftBank Team Japan beat Sweden’s Artemis Racing twice to take a 3-1 lead.
While fast and exciting, the foiling catamarans are almost always sailing on the edge. In the buildup to the 2013 America’s Cup, British Olympic star Andrew “Bart” Simpson was killed when Artemis Racing’s 72-foot catamaran broke apart during a test run on San Francisco Bay.
Sailors wear the latest in safety equipment, including crash helmets and life vests, and carry an oxygen supply and knives in case they need to cut themselves free.
___
Follow Bernie Wilson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/berniewilson
