AC 45 capsize: behind the scene!

On Wednesday March 2, ORACLE TEAM USA became the first America’s Cup team to capsize during training in Bermuda. Fortunately, there were no injuries and minimal damage to the AC45S training boat the team was sailing.

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Published 07/03/2016

By Jean-Christophe Guillaumin

Issue: 146

Published: mar. / apr. 2016

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Following a crew rotation, helmsman Tom Slingsby had only been on the boat a few minutes before the mishap occurred. Despite this being a best-case scenario capsize with no injuries, it was still a traumatic experience.

“The boys had been sailing for a while, probably about 18-20 knots of breeze,” said helmsman Tom Slingsby.

“We’d just done the crew swap, I’d just jumped on the boat. We went into a bear-away, all good, we went through a full foiling gybe. But as I was crossing, I saw we were getting too much heel on the boat…

“When you capsize, it’s all on the skipper. The first thing I thought when I got washed off the boat was to get back on the boat because I need to be running the show for the recovery and to make sure everyone is safe.”

In this case, the full crew was quickly accounted for, the boat was righted in less than five minutes, and was able to sail back to base under its own power.

More on: oracle-team-usa.americascup.com