Sir Ben Ainslie’s Great Britain team were labelled "reckless" after causing a dangerous collision with the Japan boat during the Sydney leg of the SailGP series.
Ainslie and co were docked six points after being deemed responsible for the incident, which took place in the pre-start on the third and final race of the day - after GB had performed impressively with a second and a fourth placed finish.
Ainslie, a four time Olympic gold medalist, was skippering the crew aboard the British F50 catamaran when the ugly twist came, as the boat careered into Japan's F50 model - leaving both teams unable to continue.
Following the impact Nathan Outteridge, the Australian skipper on the Japan boat, said: “Oh my God. What the hell. Are they going to say sorry?”
He then declared: “Yeah we’ve got major flooding issues on this hull.”
No crew members from either side were injured in the collision and Ainslie, 44, took full responsibility afterwards as his team were withdrawn from racing under the contact and damage policy rule.
They now have no chance of a top three finish in the series, and their talisman was later full or regret for what transpired.
And he also made a noble offer to try and ensure Japan could continue racing.
“We were coming back in the final moments of the start, fighting for the top of the line in a defensive mode against the Americans,” he explained to reporters.
“We just didn’t see them [Japan] at all which was devastating for both teams.
“Everyone was ok which is the most important thing, but sadly it probably means the end of our season as we receive hefty penalty points for the damage caused.
“It will also impact Japan, which is not what we want, and as is only correct we are giving them our F50 and any support they need to hopefully get them back out racing tomorrow.”
The final round of the series takes place in San Francisco in Marsh, and Ainslie vowed the squad's attention would now turn to performing well in America.
"This was hugely frustrating for everyone, but that’s sport and we will dust ourselves off and go again in San Francisco," he added.
