Burling – who held his press conference later, separately from the other helmsmen – held his hands up to the error but claimed it was not pressure that led to it. He said he did “not really care” where the British boat was at the start, he was just concentrating on getting his boat away safely.

“We’re a resilient bunch us Kiwis,” he said. “We’ll be back.”

No doubt. But in what shape remains to be seen. The Kiwis had already had to go back to base and switch wings after sustaining damage to their boat prior to the first race. They did brilliantly to get back out in around 40 minutes, albeit they profited from a slight delay to the first contest of the day between Sweden and Japan.

They are likely to be given at least a day’s reprieve with the forecast for Wednesday even spicier than Tuesday, although Ainslie – clearly feeling more positive about the state of play – said he would be happy to go again if the wind readings came in below the 24-knot limit.

“It was an amazing day of sailing, certainly the most exciting, exhilarating I’ve ever been involved in. I'm not sure 'fun' is the right word. It's exhilarating. I've never been in an atmosphere as tense as this before.”