‘Holy s… It’s not worth it’: Team NZ take boat off course as lightning strikes

Wednesday, 4 September 2024

Lightning forced day five of the America's Cup challenger series to be abandoned.

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A lightning strike on the race course prompted an abrupt end to racing at the America’s Cup but not before the Swiss scored a vital victory over the French.

Team New Zealand skipper Peter Burling said “holy shit” as the lightning fork struck the water and that “it’s not worth it”, taking his boat off the race course while trailing Luna Rossa on day five of the challenger series in Barcelona on Wednesday (NZ time)

“We’ve got some bad memories from lightning near race boats with our SailGP boat in Singapore,” Burling told Stuff afterwards, explaining why they bailed out.

They were onboard their America's Cup boats when lightning hit the water.

Officials quickly ended the day due to the risk to the carbon fibre mast, boats, electronics and crew, of a direct strike.

“I think in general, the people would be okay, but the carbon structure gets hurt, the mast would be in really bad shape, and all the electronics,” Burling said.

Burling withdrew their boat racing with Luna Rossa and headed for where some large superyachts were in the spectator fleet.

“They're set up to be hit by lightning, where for us, we've only got two little foils in the water, so we're not. So our plan was to try and get next to something that's taller than us.”

Lightning hit the fifth day of the America's Cup challenger series in Barcelona.

INEOS Britannia was preparing for its race, and helmsman Dylan Fletcher said he’d seen a few lightning strikes, and they were a safety risk as carbon fibre is a conductor.

“We're on a carbon fibre boat with carbon fibre masts and carbon fibre shrouds and for the helmsmen or the trimmers and the others, our heads are right next to those those shrouds, he said.

A lightning strike prompted Peter Burling to take the Team NZ boat off the race course

“If you get struck by lightning it's probably campaign-ending which no one wants for any of the teams around here.”

Team New Zealand’s dash for safety saw them disqualified from a race they were losing, after a mistake at the start let Luna Rossa get the jump and build a big lead.

“It was a great sign of strength. But at the same time, a little bit frustrating because we made some errors out there that we really need to stop,” said Jimmy Spithill, the Italian team’s co-helmsman.

Burling said: “We're just happy to have the boat back in one piece.”

In the opening race, Alinghi Red Bull Racing scored their first win – a point which has reduced their chance of being the team eliminated at the end of the knockout series.

Alinghi’s crew celebrate their first win in the America's Cup challenger series.

But the Swiss crew gave supporters a heart-stopping moment, going off the foils in the pre-start.

“Two-thirds of the chase boat that I was on said, no, not again, come on. And then one-third said, no, no, no, they're going, they're going,' said the general manager Silvio Arrivabene.

Electronic problems hit Orient Express, allowing Alinghi to score a crucial win.

The Swiss narrowly got the jump on France’s Orient Express, which had one point, but the French boat went off its foils, falling to a 183m deficit from which it never recovered, and was beaten by 1min 10sec. Arrivabene saw that first win as a turning point.

“I think that turning point may have started a couple of days ago with the Luna Rossa race, where we finally were able to manage to start and get off the line with good speed, and be in the race all along,“ he said.

For Orient Express, a win over the Swiss would have given them a two-point buffer above the elimination slot, and skipper Quentin Delapierre felt they were unlucky.

“Some of the electronics were not working as we wished, it is what it is, this is the Cup and it’s part of the game, so we just have to manage and move forward,” he said.

If the teams remain tied on one point by Monday (NZ time), a brutal one-race sail-off will decide which goes home, not something Delapierre is dwelling on at the moment.

“We are definitely able to win another match, or even two, against the other teams, so that's where I'm really focused now, just winning more matches this week,” he said.

Stormy weather is forecast again for day six (Thursday NZ time) with a risk of further disruption, meaning the regatta might use “reserve days” on Friday and Saturday (NZ time) for any postponed races.

Luna Rossa leads the challenger table with four points, from five races, while INEOS Britannia has three points from four, and American Magic two points from four starts, with Alinghi RBR and Orient Express tied on one point from five starts.

Louis Vuitton Cup (challenger series) day five results:

Race 16: Alinghi beat Orient Express

Race 17: Luna Rossa beat Team NZ (disqualified)

Standings: Luna Rossa 5, Team NZ 4, Britannia 4, American Magic 2, Alinghi 1, Orient Express 1.

Without Team NZ: Luna Rossa 4, Britannia 3, American Magic 2, Alinghi 1, Orient Express 1.