Blustery winds and challenging conditions have been plaguing crews at the Puig Women’s America’s Cup in Spain.
Canada’s team, led by Vancouverite Isabella Bertold, started day two in fifth place and needed a strong performance to secure a spot in the top three to advance to the semi-finals.
However, it did not go as planned.
Concord Pacific shared a video showing a series of unpredictable events, leading to mechanical failures and the end of the Canadian team’s dream of winning.
The video shows the team taking a massive nosedive, plunging into the water at speeds of more than 30 knots.
The dramatic stop narrowly avoided a capsize, according to Concord Pacific.
The technical issues forced the team to retire to prepare for the next race but the boat suffered a catastrophic hydraulics failure during the pre-start.
The team lost control of the system that operates the foils and almost capsized.
The damage was so extensive the regatta will use a different hull in the days ahead.
Concord Pacific’s racing team has been training for this event for the last six months.
“It was a really tough way for us to end the event,” Bertold said in a statement.
“We had a first-rate start and were sailing well. An unfortunate mistake on a gybe exit set us back, but we reset, and the boat was working well. Then, in the pre-start, while prepping for a gybe entry, I hit board down as usual, and immediately I thought, ‘We’ve lost part of the boat.’ It felt like we might lose the entire foil. We lost all functions and went with gut instinct to avoid flipping at 40 knots. I’m really proud we safely put the boat down and called for assistance.”
Bertold said after all the work she and starboard trimmer Maura Dewey put in, watching the final races from the sidelines was hard.
“We were well-prepped for the day, and the conditions were probably some of our favourites as sailors,” she added.
“We wish we could have been out there racing and fighting to move up the leaderboard.”
The America’s Cup is the world’s oldest international competition still operating in any sport. The top sailing crews in the world battle head-to-head in multi-million-dollar yachts, often at breakneck speed.
While women have competed in the event in the past, including one all-female crew, the sport has been dominated by men until now.