'You get a shock': Lightning strike ends America's Cup racing as Team New Zealand takes boat off course

- This article originally appeared on Stuff and is reproduced with permission

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 (AEST).

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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," Team New Zealand skipper Peter 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."

Australian Jimmy Spithill, one of the co-helms aboard Luna Rossa, said he's been struck by lightning before, which is not an uncommon experience in sailing.

"I actually felt OK because I've been struck by lightning twice before," he said. "They say when you've been hit before your odds of getting hit again are way smaller. So I reckon we were the safest boat in the fleet.

"It would have been catastrophic for the boat, though, no question. Both times I've been hit it destroyed the boat. The first time the boat actually caught fire because it was wooden and it hit the rig.

"I felt the lightning through my body. You get a shock but it's like your eardrums get blown up."

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.

"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 Spithill.

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.

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.

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 Australian time) with a risk of further disruption, meaning the regatta might use "reserve days" on Friday and Saturday (Australian 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.