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Blue waterWhale collision in the Pacific

Pascal Schürmann

 · 15.10.2018

Blue water: Whale collision in the PacificPhoto: R. Böhle
A humpback whale seeks contact with the German sailing yacht "Findus" in the Pacific
On the way to Fiji, the yacht of a German sailing couple is attacked for hours by a humpback whale - a momentous encounter!

It happens without any warning: between Tonga and Fiji, the sailing yacht "Findus" is literally pulled up. The deeply frightened owners cling to something below deck to avoid being thrown through the cabin in the wildly swaying ship.

When the two of them rush on deck to see what's going on, they discover a whale around ten metres long swimming close to their boat. It repeatedly dives under the hull, causing vibrations throughout the boat.

The animal does not let go of the "Findus" for 24 hours. It suffers serious damage to the rudder and propeller - and is virtually unable to manoeuvre.

You can now read about how the sailors coped with the situation and the subsequent odyssey through the South Seas in the new issue of YACHT (issue 22/2018, available now in magazine shops and as a digital edition).

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Pascal Schürmann

Pascal Schürmann

Editor YACHT

Pascal Schürmann joined YACHT in Hamburg in 2001. As head of copywriting and head of the editorial team, he makes sure that all articles make it into the magazine on time and that they are both informative and entertaining to read. He was born in the Bergisches Land region near Cologne. He learned how to handle the tiller and sheet as a teenager in a touring dinghy on the Sneeker Meer and on a tall ship on the IJsselmeer. During and after his studies, he sailed on the Baltic Sea and in the Mediterranean. As a trained business journalist, he is also responsible for boat financing and yacht insurance reports at YACHT, but also has a soft spot for blue water topics.

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