It was an everyday manoeuvre in a pre-start phase and ended in disaster for two of the teams at the Louis Vuitton Trophy race in the La Maddalena archipelago in Sardinia. Bad luck for the BMW Oracle too: both boats came from them, but were only chartered by the French and Italians.
The situation was pretty clear: both yachts were sailing on port tack when the leeward boat "Azurra" with Francesco Bruni at the helm luffed. The "Aleph", steered by Bertrand Pace, tried to drop instead of luffing up and pass the stern of the opponent, who had the right of way. But the bowman, who was supposed to estimate the distance to the opponent, obviously gave the fatal signal that there was enough room. It was not enough and so "Aleph" slammed into the opponent at full speed just three to four metres from the stern.
The force of the collision destroyed almost two metres of the bow. The French were very lucky that the damage ended at the first collision sheet, otherwise the forestay would have broken and the mast would inevitably have come down.
During the crash, a tactician on board the "Azurra" was slightly injured but did not require treatment. The jury disqualified Bertrand Pace's team shortly after the collision. Both boats will not be usable today, "Azurra" skipper Francesco Bruni said in an interview that the damage was considerable as it affected the sensitive areas of the forestay and backstay attachment points.
A 25-strong team of boat builders immediately set to work repairing the damage. However, according to organiser Bruno Trouble, the continuation of the event is not at risk and other yachts could be used by teams.
CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO OF THE CRASH:
Andreas Fritsch
Editor Travel
