In normal times, this event would hardly have been worth an article. But in view of the continuing orca attacks on sailing yachts, what happened to YACHT reader Jürgen Claß is all the more remarkable.
On a trip of around 40 nautical miles from Dénia back to their home port of Valencia, Jürgen Claß and his wife's Etap 34S was attacked by four tuna.
The tuna came from astern
Claß reports: "After a sudden noticeable and audible rumble, my wife saw a larger fish in the stern area and we initially thought that we had run over a dolphin." But Glaß told himself that it couldn't be true: "A dolphin can't be that stupid to let itself be run over." Especially as the Etap was only sailing at a few knots and the conditions were light winds. At the time, the Etap was sailing in about 60 metres of water and the wind was very changeable between six and eight knots.
"But after a few moments, the fish came back," Claß continues, "and swam up to our rudder from behind." The Etap sailed with the tiller pilot engaged.
Claß continues: "Then a second fish came and swam under the hull from behind without touching us. We didn't know what kind of fish they were at first and looked them up on the internet." It quickly became clear that they were tuna. "There were four fish between 1.5 and around two metres in size."
Warned about orca attacks
"The whole thing took about an hour, with a five-minute break every now and then until they came back. In total, they hit the oar at least ten times." They always turned on their side just before touching it and it looked like they were swimming with their stomachs against the oar blade.
The video with the tuna interactions
Claß was familiar with the many reports of orca attacks. "As our Etap is unsinkable and these tuna are much smaller than orcas, we weren't afraid of sinking," says Claß. "However, we didn't realise whether we would suffer rudder damage, so the whole situation was a bit uncomfortable for us, as we are still novice sailors..."
Reports of orca attacks:
Running towards the shore into shallower areas, as is recommended in the event of orca attacks, was not advisable due to the distances involved. "So we just sailed on."
A fender was the solution
When the ramming didn't stop after an hour, Claß asked his wife to hit the water with a fender when the next tuna approached. "Every time one swam up from behind, she hit the water. That actually kept the fish away and we had peace and quiet."
The tuna were so dense that Claß could easily have caught one. "A wire loop that you pull over the fish from the front and tighten would have been enough."
In the harbour of Valencia, Claß inspected the rudder and found no damage. He showed the videos and pictures to his Spanish neighbours on the jetty and fishermen, and no one had ever heard of such an attack.
Attack- or what else?
"It's not clear to us whether this should be described as an attack or whether it was a game," says Claß. He also ruled out the possibility that the fish were looking for food, as the underwater hull had been given a new coat of antifouling in April and he had completely removed a minimal amount of fouling from the rudder blade, which was only at the end of the blade, the day before the incident. The incident occurred on 23 August.
Jürgen Claß, 68, a former engineer who is now retired, did not obtain his recreational boating licence and Lake Constance licence until 2021, bought a Neptun 26 and set sail on Lake Constance with his wife. However, the couple soon realised that the Neptun was too small. In an advert, they found an Etap 34S moored in Valencia/Spain. They quickly decided to buy it in May 2022 and also took over the berth. "We think Valencia is an ideal starting harbour," says Claß. They have already undertaken several trips from Valencia, but still see themselves more as beginners.
