Mark Orams on Team New Zealand's America's Cup capsize: 'The wind took over and over she went'

Team New Zealand suffered a scary crash this morning. Photo / Gilles Martin-Raget

Wow - this sport is amazing. I'm still trying to to take it all in - cartwheels like this are nothing new to catamaran sailors - but on an AC50 - wow!

They just lost control in the bear away after Team BAR held them high in the start box.

Emirates Team NZ just got too high on the foils and the windward rudder came out of the water.

Peter Burling then had no control over the boat and the power in the wind took over, bows went in and over she went!

Nobody hurt fortunately - but what is the damage sustained to Aotearoa? It's not minor, that is for sure. I see the issues in the following priorities:

1. Is the boat still structurally sound?

2. Can wing 1 (that was changed out due to damage before the first race today) be repaired overnight?

3. Are the electronics onboard able to be made operational?

4. Are the hydraulic control systems operational and, if not, can they be made so?

5. Do they have replacement fairings and can the boat be made able to be sailed competitively?

Finally, given the forecast for tomorrow - will Tangaroa help out and blow the day out so there is no sailing so ETNZ get more time?

The PredictWind forecast for tomorrow is right up there wind speed-wise. All four predictive models show gusts over 30 knots and averages in the low to mid 20s. So, if the teams struggled to get around the track today - tomorrow will be even more challenging!

Key call for ETNZ is do they rush to put the boat back together and try to get out there?

Or, do they flag the day away and get their repairs done in a longer time window - giving up two points tomorrow - and so come back three-all with Team BAR on the following day (which is still forecast to be windy).

The worst case scenario is ETNZ rush their repairs overnight, get the boat out there tomorrow, have a major breakdown which further comprises the yacht and lose the two points to Team BAR anyway.

A tricky call. For mine, I would want to be 100% confident in the repairs and the boat before heading onto the water tomorrow. If that cannot be achieved overnight tonight, concede the two points (or hope you get lucky and the day gets blown out) and then go into Day 4 of the semi-finals at three-all.

Decisions, decisions ...

Lots of unknowns. ETNZ have their biggest challenges yet to overcome. This is when a great team needs to come together.