The accident occurred shortly before the start of the first race of the Superyacht Challenge Antigua: 90 seconds before the starting shot, the J-Class yacht "Svea" collided with her classmate "Topaz", her sharp bow drove over the stern in a dramatic way. The fact that the sailors were largely unscathed seems almost a miracle when looking at the pictures. Both yacht beauties were badly damaged. A sailor went overboard from "Topaz", two "Topaz" sailors had to receive medical attention, but were not seriously injured. This was reported by the J Class Association in a very brief statement on Friday night.
The video shows "Svea" driving over the stern of "Topaz". The jury decided that the "Svea" crew was responsible for the crash
Both boats were able to enter the port of Antigunoch on their own, but can no longer take part in the regatta. The jury of the regatta has since determined that the "Svea" crew has violated rules 10 and 14. At the time of the collision, "Svea" was sailing on starboard, "Topaz" on port and with right of way. At first there were no further comments from the participating crews of up to 35, nor from the organizers or the class association. The video of the momentous crash is one of several clips circulating on social networks and at the end shows how the "Velsheda" crew members, sailing very close to the disaster, get to safety below deck because they fear the masts of the boats involved in the collision break. The "immediately below deck" calls can be heard loudly.
"Topaz" and "Svea" in a regatta last year
For the rest of the fleet, the start of the beautiful sailing show was less dramatic: In the "Bucaneers" class, the 26-meter-long Oyster 885 "Firebird" with tactician and double Olympic champion Jesper Bank from Denmark took the lead. For the "Privateers", the 33-meter-long "Missy" leads, and for the "Corsairs", "WinWin" initially had the bow before "Nilaya" and "Pink Gin VI".
Here you can find the intermediate results of the Superyacht Challenge Antigua.
Here is the homepage of the J-Class Association.