Peter Burling is grateful Team New Zealand's spectacular capsize on Auckland's Waitematā Harbour didn't happen four years ago in Bermuda.
The team lost control of Te Rehutai while travelling around 35 knots in a practice race with INEOS Team UK yesterday afternoon, nose-diving and twisting onto its side.
It appears no lasting damage was done, but the boat was towed back to base to allow the team to reassess.
“We got a little too high in the gybe and stopped pretty quick,” Burling explained in a video put out this morning.
“It’s a pretty big load case on the bow when the boat hits, so we just wanted to do some checks but everything functionally on the boat was working pretty well, so we just towed on the foil on the way in."
Spectacular footage caught the crash from multiple angles.
Burling said if a similar crash happened in the 2017 America's Cup, the outcome would have been much different.
“Chatting with the guys on the way in and that same kind of manoeuvre on the cat in Bermuda and you’d be in hundreds of pieces.
“Full credit to the design of these boats that they are still in one piece.”
Team New Zealand did in fact nose-dive during the 2017 challenger semifinals, forcing an overnight repair.
Skipper Glenn Ashby's analysis of yesterday's incident was to the point.
"Not ideal."
SHARE ME