America's Cup: Training scare off Barcelona - fire on board the AC40 foiler "Athena"
This was not how the Brits had imagined their training day with their two AC40 foilers "Athena" and "Sienna": Early on Friday, they had left the dock of their base camp in Barcelona not far from the superyacht harbour of Port Vell. As the two-boat training session off Mataró in north-east Barcelona was in full swing, a sudden burst of smoke caused a stir in the British America's Cup team.
The fire brigade removed the battery from the ship
At 10.05 a.m., the "Athena" crew had to respond to a sudden fire on board, which was signalled by smoke from the forward hatch. The Ineos escort boat quickly came alongside and fire extinguishers were deployed. Water then had to be pumped into the forward hatch to flood and cool the lithium battery and contain the fire as best as possible.
Crew and helpers from the America's Cup team stabilised the A40 foiler and notified the rescue services. The boat was then towed back to the Brits' Spanish quarters on a long towline. The crew constantly monitored the lithium battery. At 2.45 pm, "Athena" arrived back at the team base, where the fire brigade was already waiting for the team. The experts safely removed the faulty battery from the ship.
A fire on board a boat is always an incredibly difficult situation" (Sir Ben Ainslie)
The fire and damage will now be investigated in detail by the British "Challenger of Record" and its experts. A stroke of luck for the British America's Cup chasers' training and testing programme, which is running at full speed: both AC40 racers were not due to be on the water next week anyway, as a maintenance week is planned.
On board the yacht "Athena" this Friday were Dylan Fletcher and Ben Cornish as helmsmen, Luke Parkinson and Alex Hughes as trimmers. Team Principal Sir Ben Ainslie said: "A fire on board a boat is always an incredibly difficult situation. I would like to personally thank the crew for their professionalism and the emergency services for their support. We will now focus on assessing the damage to 'Athena' while finalising the outfitting of our AC75 race boat, which we will see in Barcelona in April."
America's Cup: at least four AC75 premieres in April
The presentations of the only new AC75 Cup yachts are eagerly awaited in Barcelona over the coming months. The New Zealand Cup defenders from Emirates Team New Zealand, Alinghi Red Bull Racing, Patrizio Bertelli's Team Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and the British "Challenger of Record" have announced their premieres for April.
The US team New York Yacht Club and Stephane Kandler and Bruno Dubois' French Orient Express Racing Team have not yet finalised their AC75 debuts in the 37th America's Cup. They could present their new Cuppers in April, May or even June. As a general rule, boat launches must be announced two months in advance.
