MADRID, 23 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Ocean Race fleet has suffered one of the most tense and terrifying moments of this year’s round-the-world sailing event, when orcas have attacked the boats of ‘Team JAJO’ and ‘Mirpuri-Trifork Racing Team’ near from the Strait of Gibraltar, although all crew members are unharmed.
As explained by the two VO65s, three orcas approached them at around 4:50 p.m. Spanish peninsular time on Thursday in the Atlantic Ocean west of Gibraltar and began to bite the rudder and violently hit the boats. After a few minutes of terror, the three cetaceans moved away.
“Twenty minutes ago we were hit by orcas,” explained Team JAJO skipper Jelmer van Beek after the incident. “Three killer whales came right at us and started pounding on the rudders. Killer whales are awesome to see, very beautiful animals, but it’s also been a dangerous time for us as a team. We removed the sails and slowed the boat down as fast as possible. possible and, luckily, after a few attacks, they left. It was a scary moment,” he confessed.
After the attack, the two boats contacted Race Control in Alicante and confirmed that there had been no injuries or material damage to their boats after their “brief” encounter with the orcas.
Orcas have carried out several attacks on boats, many with significant damage and some resulting in shipwrecks, in the Gibraltar area in recent months. Cetaceans repeatedly hit the hull or the rudders of ships in a behavior that is still being studied.
Eight days after setting sail from The Hague (Netherlands), The Ocean Race fleet has already entered the Mediterranean, but continues to battle light winds en route to Genoa (Italy). Except for the ‘WindWhisper Racing Team’, which leads by some distance, the rest of the boats remain separated by a few miles.