Alinghi Red Bull broke the second mast

Yesterday, Tuesday 20th August, Alinghi Red Bull Racing faced a rig failure. Fortunately, due to the quick response from the crew, everyone onboard is safe, and the situation was promptly managed.

1) What happened yesterday?

We were sailing upwind in a beautiful breeze of 13 or so knots and all of a sudden, the mast came down. The crew very quickly and professionally responded to get the mast and boat separated and retrieved the sail to get the boat towed back in. Today the team demonstrated what a competent crew they are. When we got back to shore, we were welcomed by the whole team. Everybody pulled together to bring all the parts back to base. BoatOne is back in the shed with just a few scratches. Most importantly, nobody onboard was hurt. So, despite this setback, our spirits are still up.

2) Now there have been two mast failures on BoatOne. Isn’t that strange?

Yes. The events that occurred today were definitely surprising, particularly given the mild conditions. No signs of overload were observed on the mast, which was newly acquired and had been in use for just 20 minutes. This one-design mast replaced the previous one, which had been in place for only a few hours before failing. Each failure occurred in a very similar manner, and on both occasions, all load sensors indicated that the stress levels were well within acceptable limits. To be in this situation again certainly raises some legitimate questions with regard to what happened to the masts’ structural integrity. It’s a matter that needs to be looked at very closely, but for now, we’re leaving the investigation to the experts.

3) What now?

The course of our programme has not changed. We are focused on racing. We may have lost a mast, but we haven’t lost the race. We have another rig that has successfully sailed over the past months, so tomorrow we will have BoatOne back in racing condition ready for dock out at 13h00. We’re not a team that gives up, and we invite everyone to our dock out tomorrow to see firsthand what Alinghi Red Bull Racing is made of.