Skipper Nathan Outteridge of Sweden's Artemis Racing fell overboard during a tack in Race 3 of the America's Cup challenger finals on Bermuda's Great Sound on Saturday, allowing Emirates Team New Zealand to sail ahead and take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-nine series.
The Kiwis won two of three races against Ainslie's Land Rover BAR on Bermuda's Great Sound on Thursday to win the series 5-2 and advance to face the victor of the series between Sweden's Artemis Racing and SoftBank Team Japan.
In the other semi-final encounter, Sweden's Artemis Racing also managed to keep themselves in the contest, beating SoftBank Team Japan three times in a row to bring the score to 4-3.
For Burling and his crew, the incredible efforts the team made from Tuesday to Thursday to fix the boat that was so badly damaged in Tuesday's pitchpole were repaid handsomely, putting themselves into the Louis Vuitton America's Cup Challenger Playoffs Finals as the first team to reach that stage.
While it was "too early to say" whether SoftBank Team Japan would be back for another shot at the cup, Barker said he hoped they had a future given the fan base they have built up in both Japan and New Zealand, where numerous team are from.
Skipper Peter Burling said there no major injuries.
The New Zealand boat rose on its hydrofoils rapidly just before the start and lost control, its bows plunging into the water before the boat flipped sideways, its massive fixed wing sail in the water.
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The sailors escaped unharmed but the boat suffered extensive damage, leaving the shore crew with a massive job to get Aotearoa back on the water for racing tomorrow.
"That was definitely a pretty exciting race and we did a much better job in the pre-start, but didn't quite get there down that first reach", reflected Burling.
However, he feels change is necessary in order to aid the development of sailing.
"The main thing is that we have simplified our racing slightly", Outteridge said. "We knew it was going to be incredibly tough for the first attempt, but certainly where the team has come from, even in the last couple of months, the performance gains we have made, is a huge credit to everyone in the team".
Ben Ainslie, Land Rover BAR Skipper and Team Principal, said: Ben Ainslie, Skipper and Team Principal: "We are constantly developing".
The team now move forward to the semi-final of the Playoffs where they will face Emirates Team New Zealandin a first to five points match racestarting on Sunday 4thJune.
Support boats quickly surrounded the stricken catamaran as some of the New Zealand team swam away.
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