After a race that saw the wind go through 100 degrees on the first beat, GBR Challenge have put in a request for redress for what they see as a number of errors by the race committee after losing their match against Alinghi.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, it’s probably the first America’s Cup race that’s gone around an island since 1851,” joked Walker. “We certainly didn’t expect to be sailing around islands and around headlands. Had we known that we probably would have had a different set of charts on board,” he continued.

Amid the light hearted comments, the British believe they have a serious claim and although they wouldn’t comment on the specific details of their request for redress, having an island on their rhumb line was not what they had expected and provided a clue to their case. “There were clearly a number of errors made today and we believe that they had a serious effect on the results of the race,” said Ian Walker.

“We weren’t even in the America’s Cup racing area at one point.” But how did he feel about the vagaries of the weather that led to the problems?

“It’s only the people that haven’t been living in Auckland for a year that are hopping up and down and are frustrated. To the rest of us this is life in Auckland and why we work a seven day week.” The hearing is set for Thursday.