Photo of the day - quite unbelievable

Strother Scott on Monday September 13, 2004 05:20PM

Click more to see what Scuttlebutt informed us about this morning.PODIUM TRAGEDY Marseille, France, 12th September - Following the conclusion of the Marseille Louis Vuitton Act 1, a violent storm and associated high winds passed through the area later that night and claimed the top three finishers: BMW Oracle Racing, Team Alinghi and Emirates Team New Zealand. All three boats were blown off their cradles and are lying on their sides on the J-4 pier. The incident took place at 02:40, early on Sunday morning.

Gusts of over 65 knots of wind were measured at the time of the incident. While there were no injuries, technical teams are currently evaluating the boat damage and assessing the situation. It appears that BMW Oracle may have gotten the least of it, however, both the Swiss and New Zealand teams suffered puncture damage as the hulls came against their adjacent storage containers. The three damaged boats were the most exposed to the prevailing wind direction. The three others, K-Challenge, Le Defi and Team Shosholoza, suffered no apparent damage.

How does this affect Act 2 and 3 in Valencia next month? Both BMW Oracle and Alinghi have spare boats in Europe, so they are likely to continue. However, Emirates Team New Zealand doesn't, so their plan is to pack up and head home to handle repairs.

For an unbelievable photo of the boats: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/04/0912/

Photo of the day - quite unbelievable

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