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Crewman thrown overboard; skipper, navigator injured
Associated Press
CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- A South African crew training for the America's Cup apparently got the worst of a collision with a whale.
One crewman was thrown overboard, the skipper and navigator were injured and Team Shosholoza's sloop was damaged when it hit the whale Monday during a training session on Table Bay near Cape Town.
Shosholoza RSA 48 was sailing at 10 knots (11.5 mph) under spinnaker when it hit the whale, bringing the boat to a dead stop. The impact knocked crewman Charles Nankin off the yacht and was picked up by the team's chase boat.
Navigator Marc Lagesse, who was checking the compass reading on the starboard steering wheel, fell forward, breaking the wheel and injuring his collar bone. Skipper Geoff Meek was flung forward, injuring his knee on the crossbar linking the two steering wheels.
Olympic sailor Ian Ainslie, who was at the helm, fell forward over the port steering wheel, breaking the wheel off its mount.
"The guys saw the whale surface close to me soon afterwards. That's how we know it was a Southern Right," Nankin said.
"We came to such an abrupt stop and the sound of the carbon steering wheels snapping were like rifle shots," sailing manager Paul Standbridge said. "The entire crew is pretty shaken up and a number of them have minor arm injuries from bracing themselves and whiplash from the sudden impact."
The yacht is expected to be out of action for at least three days. The keel was damaged, and the shore crew was checking the rigging for damage. The keel hangs about 13 feet below the surface, and Standbridge thinks the whale hit it head-on.
"We saw some whales in the distance today," Standbridge said. "We are always vigilant, both about them and other objects in the water, but the keel has a four-meter draft and this whale must have been deep in the water below us."
On the endangered list, Right whales are black whales that are easily identified because they have no dorsal fins. The Right whales (so called because they were the "right whales to hunt") can grow up to 53 feet long, according to the National Marine Mammal Laboratory.
Team Shosholoza is the first African challenge for the America's Cup. The next America's Cup will be held in 2007 in Valencia, Spain. Team Shosholoza participated in two warm-up regattas last fall in Europe.
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=1992326
Associated Press
CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- A South African crew training for the America's Cup apparently got the worst of a collision with a whale.
One crewman was thrown overboard, the skipper and navigator were injured and Team Shosholoza's sloop was damaged when it hit the whale Monday during a training session on Table Bay near Cape Town.
Shosholoza RSA 48 was sailing at 10 knots (11.5 mph) under spinnaker when it hit the whale, bringing the boat to a dead stop. The impact knocked crewman Charles Nankin off the yacht and was picked up by the team's chase boat.
Navigator Marc Lagesse, who was checking the compass reading on the starboard steering wheel, fell forward, breaking the wheel and injuring his collar bone. Skipper Geoff Meek was flung forward, injuring his knee on the crossbar linking the two steering wheels.
Olympic sailor Ian Ainslie, who was at the helm, fell forward over the port steering wheel, breaking the wheel off its mount.
"The guys saw the whale surface close to me soon afterwards. That's how we know it was a Southern Right," Nankin said.
"We came to such an abrupt stop and the sound of the carbon steering wheels snapping were like rifle shots," sailing manager Paul Standbridge said. "The entire crew is pretty shaken up and a number of them have minor arm injuries from bracing themselves and whiplash from the sudden impact."
The yacht is expected to be out of action for at least three days. The keel was damaged, and the shore crew was checking the rigging for damage. The keel hangs about 13 feet below the surface, and Standbridge thinks the whale hit it head-on.
"We saw some whales in the distance today," Standbridge said. "We are always vigilant, both about them and other objects in the water, but the keel has a four-meter draft and this whale must have been deep in the water below us."
On the endangered list, Right whales are black whales that are easily identified because they have no dorsal fins. The Right whales (so called because they were the "right whales to hunt") can grow up to 53 feet long, according to the National Marine Mammal Laboratory.
Team Shosholoza is the first African challenge for the America's Cup. The next America's Cup will be held in 2007 in Valencia, Spain. Team Shosholoza participated in two warm-up regattas last fall in Europe.
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=1992326
