America's Cup: Team NZ crew put capsize behind them, progress to challenger final

Emirates Team NZ and Land Rover BAR do battle in America's Cup challenger semifinals. Photo/Gilles Martin-Raget

Team NZ helmsman Peter Burling has admitted to playing it safe over their first two America's Cup challenger races today, with the memory of their dramatic capsize still fresh in their minds.

But the Kiwis found their nerve to finally put away BAR 5-2 in their first-to-five semifinal and now move on to next week's challenger final.

Emirates Team New Zealand toppled into Bermuda's Great Sound on Wednesday (NZT), damaging their ACC boat, but also denting the confidence of their crew, who were left nursing a variety of cuts and bruises.

A postponement of racing yesterday gave the shore crew enough time to restore the boat to virtually 100%, but Burling admitted the sailors aboard probably took a little longer to regain their mojo.

"It's obviously something that will be in the back of your mind for a long time now," Burling said afterwards.

"But we've got an incredible bunch of shore team and designers, who pitched in and gave us that encouragement to get out there and push the boat hard again.

"Definitely, we were trying to take it as easy as we could in the first couple of races, then as the breeze died off a little in the last one, we really let loose."

Team NZ had their boat back out on the water early this morning, put it through its paces, and again lingered after their final race.

"It was definitely valuable to do that little sail this morning, just as much for the guys on board to get used to it again and get our confidence back really," said Burling. "We were definteily just trying to look after the gear in that first race and were pretty happy with the way we would things up in that last one to close it out."

When history reflects on this America's Cup regatta, the Team NZ shore crew may emerge as the unsung heroes of the campaign.

After working quickly to get their boat to the start-line on Wednesday, they will have worked feverishly to have it ready to race less than 24 hours after the capsize and in even better shape today.

That achievement was not lost on Burling, who took every opportunity to highlight their efforts.

"Obviously, we had a fair bit of damage the other day, but they all dug pretty deep to get the boat back out on the water and incredibly close to 100 per cent.

"We were really happy to get it done in the final race with a good start and really solid race. It gives the shore crew a day off tomorrow, which is pretty needed."

Today's performance was far from flawless. Burling lost control of his craft during the first start, indicating that all was not quite right after the capsize, and he had to come from behind for victory, a result that would have settled the jangling nerves.

But Ainslie again seized control of the second start and the Kiwis could make no headway. appearing to lose their poise several times down the course.

"I think the first race was relatively hairy as well, but we did a great job of clawing our way back into it and getting that win, which proved to be pretty important as the day played out," reflected Burling.

"In that second race, Ben sailed a really good race. Everyone's been saying how people have been improving through these events.

"We didn't quite get over the top of him down the reach and he didn't give us many opportuniteis to pass - that just shows you how tight the racing is and if you do get it wrong, any team can lose.

"We were really pleased with the fight he did give us and that definitely puts us in a lot better mindset going into the next stage."

Today's results
Team NZ beat BAR by 31 secs (TNZ lead 4-1)
Artemis beat Team Japan by 39 sec (Japan lead 3-2)
BAR beat Team NZ by 20 sec (TNZ lead 4-2)
Artemis v Team Japan by 28 secs - (Series tied 3-3)
Team NZ beat BAR by 46 secs (TNZ win series 5-2)
Artemis beat Team Japan by 1min,46 secs (Artemis lead 4-3)