Sailors expect Team New Zealand to be back after capsize at America's Cup

Team New Zealand members inspect the boat after today's crash in Bermuda. Photo / Ricardo Pinto

A former member of Team New Zealand expects the crew to bounce back and return to the water following today's scary crash and capsize in their semifinal race against BAR.

Emirates New Zealand looked to suffer significant damage when Peter Burling's boat crashed forward into the water and tipped on its side in the prestart.

All crew were safe and accounted for.

Tony Rae, who took part in the last seven Team New Zealand campaigns, told Newstalk ZB's Tony Veitch that the damage could be superficial and expects the team to repair the boat in time for their next race against the British syndicate who were awarded the race win

"I'm confident because I know the shore crew," Rae told Veitch.

"It's a lot of work. It's a lot of hours but a lot of what you see is superficial. There will be some ribs broken, bits and pieces like that but it's all fixable overnight. These guys are a slick operation."

Match-racing specialist Chris Steele, who along with Rae has been providing expert comments for Radio Sport's America's Cup coverage, says Team New Zealand have a backup wing which will help their cause to get back on the water,

"The wing was a major from the pictures we saw but that was the backup win," he told Veitch.

"They've got a new one they can put in tomorrow. The primary one which we saw them take off earlier.

Before racing today, Team New Zealand suffered a breakage to their wing and had to replace it less than an hour before beating BAR in race three.

Winds are expected to reach 30 knots tomorrow which could provide more time for team New Zealand to do repairs.