Kiwi Youth Team over-cooked it on the exit of a gybe, lost the rudder and then had what can only be described as an epic pitch-pole and resultant capsize.
Out training on the ‘Back Paddock’ in Auckland, the Youth Team who were one-boat training on their AC40 when they came out of a gybe with too much heel and turned slightly too fast, resulting in a fast-paced capsize!
The boat pitchpoled, tearing the clew out of the J3 sail, and then fell over sideways after bouncing backward.
However, the team quickly shifted into recovery mode, and within minutes, they had the boat upright and all crew members safe. It’s remarkable to see how easily the boats can be recovered after a capsize.
Given the damage to the jib and the wind forecast, the team dropped sails and headed for the dock, ending the session there.
Speaking afterwards, Ray Davies, the Team Coach commented . . . “So we had a capsize and it’s inevitable that was going to happen at some point but as they’re pushing the limits of the boat up the wind range a little bit as there’s only 16 knots at the time and you know they’ll go back through it but there’s probably a little bit too fast a turn rate and in the gybe and probably came out a little bit hot and next thing the rudder came out of the water and it all happened pretty quickly from there, but everyone’s okay.
