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Team Oracle Boat Capsizes Near Golden Gate Bridge
Team Oracle calls the tide, which swept AC72 out past the Golden Gate, the strongest of the year.
A nearly $8 million, 72-foot catamaran used by the Oracle Team USA, the defending America’s Cup champion, capsized during practice near the Golden Gate Bridge Tuesday and was severely damaged. There were no injuries but the $2 million wing of the new ship was was “damaged beyond recognition,” team officials said.
The AC 72 boat, a massive vessel with a 13,000-pound hull and a 131-foot mast that launched this year, was towed back to the team’s base at Pier 80, according to The New York Times. There were 14 people on the boat when it capsized about four miles offshore, all of whom were unhurt.
With winds blowing at 25 knots and a strong ebb current in the San Francisco Bay, the team attempted a move known as a bear-away at about 3 p.m.
Technician Tom Slingsby said in a statement that as the boat accelerated it pitch-poled. “When the nose went down, the wing hit and a few guys went in the water,” he said. “We were unsure if the wing would snap, so we all climbed off the boat.”
Speaking later at a press conference, Slingsby said the ordeal was “pretty scary, I guess. Surreal feeling.”
By 4:30, the boat turned upside down, and by 5 p.m. it was breaking apart.
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conservative cowgirl
October 18th, 2012
Is that Slingsby of Slingsby’s Superior Soups?
"That Guy"
October 18th, 2012
I wish they would go back to the 12m class boats…
doug anderson
October 18th, 2012
So, if this happened on the 16th? Right? Anyone? Ok… on with it. At 2:11 p.m. it was slack water at the Golden Gate Bridge. That means- nothing is moving. (except the wind, and every day after 2 pm it blows 25kts. EVERYDAY!)
So the water starts to move out of the bay minutes after that building to a max speed of 5.5 kts at 5:26 p.m. Thats a pretty good current, I’ll give em that. However, they said they were out at the potato patch at that time where the current is way less than at the gate. Quick glance at the tide book shows many, MANY more tides bigger and faster than that. So in conclusion, mother nature did not sink them, they sunk themselves. Biggest tide of the year my ass.
Hillbilly Lawyers
October 18th, 2012
I know everybody thinks catamarans look cool and sleek, fast, and all that, but if you capsize one out in the middle of the ocean you end up with a $8 million, 72-foot raft.