Mighty J Class yachts in almighty race collision
The J Class yachts Svea and Topaz were involved in a serious collision on 12
March, during the first race of the Antigua Superyacht Challenge.
A video shot by a guest from the windward rail of a competitor J, which quickly went viral, shows the two 140ft and 180 tonne yachts colliding during pre-start manoeuvres before the first race. It appeared to be a port-starboard incident which went horribly wrong.
Later the protest committee found that Svea was at fault for failing to keep clear as a port tack boat and from the video it seems Svea does not bear away enough and T-bones Topaz, riding straight over her aft deck.
The alarming footage shows a crewmember being flung off the deck. He sustained four broken ribs.
Both yachts, which are the Hoekdesigned newest members of the ninestrong J Class fleet, are badly damaged. Additional footage shows the aft deck of Topaz with runner winches ripped out and the gunwale severely damaged. But despite the runners being torn away, the rig remained standing.
Peter Holmberg, skipper on Topaz explained: ”Topaz luffed to avoid when it was clear Svea was not keeping clear, but Svea failed to keep clear as a port tack boat…it was not reasonably possible for Topaz to avoid the collision, which was witnessed by two umpires, in two separate umpire boats.”
The protest jury found that Svea broke rules 10 and 14 and added: ‘It was not reasonably possible for Topaz to avoid the collision.’
The only comment Svea’s tactician Charlie Ogletree was at liberty to give us was: “The incident… was unfortunate. The Svea programme is very sorry that it happened and we wish the best recovery to Topaz and her team. We hope both boats will be back on the water soon.”
It has been speculated that the crash may result in a change in the rules to ensure greater separation between the yachts when racing. The J Class Association was unable to comment further as we went to press.