INEOS Britannia team suffered a catastrophic rudder failure of T6 whilst out tow-testing on a benign Barcelona Friday.
They were carrying out some rudder testing when a failure on one of the systems that controls the rudder led to a very sharp 90 degree turn.
Everyone was reported safe onboard, and T6 is now back in the shed being assessed
With no rig up, the British team opted to make the best of the super-light conditions, concentrating on their hydro performance profile and in particular the rudder under load.
On an almost flat calm dancefloor with just a tiny bit of swell running through, the team went through some manual and auto-pilot flight control on the foils at 30 knots, stepping up and down the speed incrementally, with all systems apparently working well.
Then, as the Chase Boat appeared to increase speed slightly, Giles Scott helming from the port aft pod can be seen to be steering to port (confirmed by the movement of the wheel in the starboard pod) and then back to starboard going perhaps as far as lock-to-lock as Luke Parkinson sitting in front of Giles appeared to be checking/securing the orange tow-line.
Suddenly the sailors were passengers in a nasty crash with the rudder stock appearing to bend initially to starboard and then go into a shudder, throwing the bow up and the boat out of control.
In a blink of an eye the rudder bent to 45 degrees (It did not snap off) and T6 was spun round some 90 degrees.
As the boat came to a stop, Giles Scott and Ben Cornish (alternate side-helm) were quick to jump out of their pods to try and assess damage, standing on the aft run-off of T6 to see if they could define early cause with the twisted rudder head mount before them.
It seems that Luke Parkinson attempted to release the towline a few seconds ahead of the incident, however to no avail.
A diver was deployed to inspect below the waterline, then protecting the elevator and securing the rudder with ropes for the tow back to the base, which proceeded at a pace of 3 knots alongside the chase boat.
Asked whether the team were testing a new, and unseen, system for the rudder control, Giles was quick to set the record straight, saying: “No new steering system. We just had a few things that we wanted to sign off with the rudder and I suppose we knew that today we were pushing to an extreme and unfortunately, we overstepped the mark there.”
“But I think the positive side of it is, albeit destructive data, we’ve got a good point in the data set there and it can only help for RB3 (the team’s new AC75 in construction).”
Next week INEOS will put their one-design AC40 back in the water to prepare for the next AC Preliminary Regatta in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia at the end of November, with all eyes on an improved result.
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