Team New Zealand are downplaying a dramatic incident at the start of the America's Cup challenger series final in which they suffered damage to their catamaran and lost two sailors overboard.
The New Zealand outfit beat Italian rivals Luna Rossa, who suffered damage of their own and failed to finish the first race of the Louis Vuitton Cup best-of-13 final at San Francisco.
Team NZ underwent a heart-stopping moment as they gibed around the top mark to begin the fourth leg when their AC72 boat nose-dived at high speed.
Both bows pitched into the water, submerging two-thirds of the catamaran, and flinging grinders Chris Ward and Rob Waddell overboard. They were promptly recovered by a team support boat and appeared uninjured.
"We are very thankful that all the guys are OK," Team NZ skipper Dean Barker said.
"I think everyone is a little shaken. But again, it's yacht racing and it's this type of sailing - it's pretty full on."
Team NZ managing director Grant Dalton says while the incident appeared spectacular, it hasn't ruffled the syndicate.
"It looked a lot more dramatic than it was, probably because a couple of guys went swimming in San Francisco Bay," he told Radio Sport.
"It's not that big a deal (but) we have to work out why it happened."
Barker put the mishap down to human error in strong, fluctuating winds when the Team NZ boat was travelling at nearly 41 knots.
He says it only takes a small mistake to get into trouble on such highly geared catamarans.
"We didn't do it as well as we could have. We will have a good look at our systems," Barker said.
"The boats are incredibly powerful. You see how the speed rockets up as you make the turn around the top."
Team NZ completed the course at a slower speed with just nine crewmen to lodge victory over Luna Rossa, whose daggerboard broke early in the second leg to effectively concede the race.
The New Zealand boat suffered obvious damage to its carbon fibre fairing which reduces wind drag.
Dalton says it will take about three days to fix the fairing and Team NZ will use older gear for any racing in the meantime.
The challengers' second race, scheduled for immediately after the first on Saturday (US time), was postponed to Sunday after the race committee deemed the wind was too strong. Race two and three are scheduled for Sunday.
The winners of the Louis Vuitton Cup final will challenge Team Oracle USA for the America's Cup next month.
