Dean Barker: Team NZ collision throws up America's Cup surprises

British syndicate BAR collided with Team New Zealand, damaging the Kiwi crew's rear hull. Photo / Emirates Team New Zealand

Dean Barker has sounded an America's Cup warning after Team New Zealand collided with Britain's Ben Ainslie Racing today.

The Kiwi boat suffered damage to the rear of its hull after the Brits, skippered by Ben Ainslie, ran into the back of Emirates Team New Zealand during a pre-start manoeuvre - an action helmsman Peter Burling described as "unnecessary".

But the Team Japan CEO and skipper said on his website the collision is a signal of just how high the stakes are between the six syndicates battling it out for a shot at Oracle.

He said no syndicates are prepared to give up an inch, even during practice racing.

"Two surprises over the past two days? One has been how aggressive the practice racing has seemed to become evidenced by a pretty decent collision between two of the boats. Two, I think the way the level has continued to rise. You expected a plateau but the game is on to one-up each other right now.

"How much space is left to evolve? The minute you might think about tapping out you would get gobbled up. Sometimes they might be very small or incremental gains but it all counts in the end."

The former Team NZ skipper said he believes Oracle have made small strides of the last couple of days.

"As far as the pecking order, I think Oracle have made a good little step as of late. Our reliability has been very good this week which has been encouraging.

"To start each race on time is a huge part of it while we're still seeing other teams struggling with reliability. Losing just one race is going to be pretty expensive."

Following the crash, Ainslie took to Twitter to apologise to Team NZ.

''Bit of a love tap racing hard with @EmiratesTeamNZ,'' Ainslie tweeted.

''Sorry guys and hope you're back on the water soon.''

Bit of a love tap racing hard with @EmiratesTeamNZ sorry guys and hope you're back on the water soon #AmericasCup https://t.co/rWXcu9Cca8

— Ben Ainslie (@AinslieBen) May 16, 2017

Team NZ chief executive Grant Dalton said with America's Cup racing set to begin in just 10 days time, it is a set-back the team cannot afford.

"We know Ben well, he is a good guy but frustration is obviously getting to him and the red mist came down and it's a lot of damage in a time we can't afford it."

The damage could keep Team NZ off the water for several days.