Victory Challenge break rig

First photos of Swedish team's rigging disaster

This morning the Swedish Victory Challenge suffered a major set-back when the mast for their America's Cup yacht broke. It is believed that a halyard was attached to the top of their container as they tried to move the boat with a travel lift.

Ouch

The team has just issued the following statement:

While Örn (SWE 63) was being lifted with the travel lift from its cradle at the team base compound in Trapani today the mast broke. The top section of the mast fell onto containers in the neighbouring base of Luna Rossa.

No personal injuries occurred and no damage was sustained by Luna Rossa.

The cause of accident was human error under huge stress. In Trapani the 12 America’s Cup teams are sharing four travel lifts and need to launch their boats according to a tight schedule. The halyards, which are attached to the ground at night to keep the boat secure, were not released when the launching manoeuvre started.

The noise level in the team base compound was so high that warnings from the crew on the boat were not heard by the team member operating the travel lift.

The mast broke in three sections and cannot be salvaged. Victory Challenge has a spare rig in Trapani and will be able to continue its preparations for Trapani Louis Vuitton Acts 8 & 9 within two to three days.