There’s been no shortage of high-octane drama over the past few days of racing.

Upsets, last-ditch repairs to damaged boats, some truly remarkable seamanship in ferocious conditions, not to mention our first capsize.

To say it’s been a captivating Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Challenger Play-offs would be an understatement.

We’ve had a blend of all conditions, which is great for the sailors, interesting for the spectators, and one of the strengths of Bermuda as a venue.

The biggest talking point of the challenger play-offs was no doubt Emirates Team New Zealand’s pitch-pole into the ocean in the fourth race of their semi-final against Land Rover BAR on Tuesday.

Whether it was Peter Burling, the helmsman or somebody else on board the boat, it was definitely a racing error by the Kiwis.

You have to remember Team New Zealand have a different control system to most other boats — perhaps that played a part.

Certainly it was an aggressive bear-away in pretty strong conditions as they approached the start line, and we all saw what happened.

Burling and the rest of the team are all excellent sailors and for them to get it so wrong just shows how difficult these boats are to handle.

I’ve certainly been involved in a few incidents like that myself!

Despite capsizing in such a dramatic fashion, the Kiwis’ boat still would have been fine to race on Wednesday (which was postponed because of high winds).

I actually think the damage to Ben Ainslie’s BAR boat after their collision with SoftBank Team Japan on the opening day of the Qualifiers was far worse.

The BAR shore crew had to work throughout the night and just about got their boat in race condition for the next day.

The teams come prepared for this type of stuff, though, and it’s part of the challenge of the America’s Cup.

A good shore team, a good sailing team, and a good design team are an absolute must.

I saw that Oracle Team USA, the defenders, were out there pushing it in pretty tough conditions themselves that same day as Team New Zealand’s mishap.

After all, Jimmy Spithill and his team can’t afford to just sit back and watch; they need to perfect their techniques because, for sure, the challengers are improving.

While it was sad to wave goodbye to BAR yesterday, everyone is excited now the business end of the competition is approaching.

We have some marvellous days of racing in store, whether it’s Artemis Racing or SoftBank Team Japan who advance to face Team New Zealand in the Challenger Play-off Finals

We’ve also got the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup to look forward to.

It may surprise a few people, but there’s a lot of interest in this competition, and it will be televised live by quite a few broadcasters.

It’s fantastic for these young sailors to get that type of exposure.

I know the six America’s Cup teams will be watching to identify possible talent, and that’s got to be a huge incentive for the guys involved.

Team BDA will have the support of the home crowd and they will be up against some incredible competition, especially the European teams, but they have nothing to fear.

I’ve no doubt they will make the island proud.

• Sir Russell Coutts was talking to Stephen Wright