Interesting Melges crash video from Scuttlebutt 3187

Strother Scott on Wednesday September 29, 2010 09:29AM

It was day two of the Worlds, at the first weather mark of race three on that day. Joe Woods’ Red team rounded the offset mark, and in the process of raising their kite, was fully out of control within 10 seconds. As they rounded up, another 10 seconds passed before Michael Dominguez’s Bronco team literally speared Red with their pole, taking aim at their aft weather quarter.

Luckily, Bronco’s pole retracted on contact. Otherwise both Bronco’s pole and Red’s hull would have been a lot worse off. And what about the protest? Red was found at fault based on Rule 16.1 which says, “When a right-of-way boat changes course, she shall give the other boat room to keep clear.”

Said Anthony Kotoun, Bronco’s tactician, “At that wind speed, you’re hauling the mail which affects your reaction time. So when somebody flips over in front of you, it depends on how far away they are as to whether you can get around them. A similar situation happened to me in Key West on another boat, where the boat ahead flipped over and we ran them over and shredded our kite on their spreader. There is a certain amount of trust you have that the guy in front of you will have a good set. And sometimes, it doesn’t happen.”

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