On the final line-up towards the start line, SoftBank Team Japan's skipper, Dean Barker moved into an overlapping position on the leeward side of Land Rover BAR, a move that resulted in a dramatic clash as the two boats came together, the hull of Land Rover BAR being punctured by the pedestal on the Japanese team.
The penalty went against Land Rover BAR, who continued racing nursing the damaged boat around the course, with SoftBank Team Japan taking the win. The foiling conditions helped keep Land Rover BAR afloat, at the end of the race the team foiled into Bermuda's Historic Dockyard to a waiting crane, with the whole team furiously bailing to keep R1 afloat.
A long night now awaits the shore team to try and fix the damage and get back onto the race course for the second day of racing in the Qualifying round of the 35th America's Cup.
Ben Ainslie, Skipper and Team Principal, yesterday: "The boat is pretty badly damaged, with a sizeable hole in the port hull. It was a great effort by the team to get the boat around the course in the state that it was in. We were better off foiling with the hull out of the water, and we tried to keep the boat on the foils right into the harbor.
"We were lucky we did, by the time we got to the dock she was on her way down. It was all hands to the pumps and bailing. It's been about 30 years since I was bailing out Optimist dinghies, and it wasn't something I was expecting to do.
"The collision was unfortunate, we had a sideways slip just as Dean came in and got the leeward overlap. No one wants that, certainly in our position as we picked up a penalty and the damage. Thankfully, the most important thing is that no one got hurt.
"It's now down to the shore team to work their magic and fix the damage and try to get us back out for racing tomorrow. They are great guys, they've got us through some pretty rough patches in the past and hopefully they can do it again."
Images : R Pinto / ACEA & Harry KH / Land Rover BAR
From Land Rover BAR
