Cup crew dive for lives as keel snaps

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

Kiwi skipper Chris Dickson and his crew dived for their lives when their America's Cup boat toppled over into the heaving waters of the Hauraki Gulf yesterday.

Sailors on board the boat, from the well-heeled American Oracle Racing challenge, heard a sharp crack as the 21-tonne keel snapped off clean at the bottom of the hull and the racing yacht immediately capsized.

They all jumped to safety.

Chase boats and a police inflatable surrounded the yacht, as the crew worked frantically to keep it from sinking. Water poured out of a drainage hole in the hull, and a hole where the keel had been resembled a battle scar.

A large float was tied to the mast to keep it afloat.

The sea was relatively flat last night and conditions seemed good for salvaging the $3 million boat.

Lying on its side with the mast and sails intact, it was slowly dragged to Rakino Island, where a floating crane was used in attempts to right it.

The salvage team did not expect to get the hull back to the Oracle racing base in the Viaduct Basin until early today.

The accident will probably set the syndicate back in terms of time, but it is unlikely to injure its financial status.

Oracle Racing is the baby of the world's second-richest man, software mogul Larry Ellison.

He has devoted a huge, undisclosed budget to his first America's Cup campaign.

In Auckland, the race team kept silent on their mishap. But in San Francisco, Mr Ellison's home city, spokeswoman Gina von Esmarch said the sailors deserved praise for their quick actions.

"Nobody was hurt and the rescue was very well organised," she said.

"This is not something we didn't anticipate might happen out there. It's something the team had discussed a month ago that conceivably could happen."

The plain white boat was no stranger to the difficult conditions of the Hauraki Gulf.

In its previous life, it was USA61, the AmericaOne boat which contested this year's Louis Vuitton Cup challenger final and lost to Italians Prada.

Yesterday, it was out two-boat racing with sister ship USA49. Dickson, skipper of the new syndicate, was at the helm, racing against the boat's old helmsman, Paul Cayard, in 22-knot winds and a testing 1.5m swell.

Cayard compared the mishap to a similar incident in the 1995 America's Cup, when the French boat lost its keel off San Diego.

The last America's Cup near-sinking in Auckland waters occurred just over a year ago, when the Young America boat USA53 was torn open by a huge wave, forcing the crew to jump for their lives.

In yesterday's incident the USA61 keel - 20 tonnes of lead and one tonne of steel - sheared off cleanly at the hull and sank 40m to the bottom of the gulf.

It is likely that divers will be able to salvage the bulb and fin.

Sailors jumped clear as the boat capsized, and the syndicate's two chase boats and tender went to their rescue.

Crew clambered back on board to try to right the boat, but the hull began to take on water.

With Dickson in charge of the salvage operation, pumps from the support craft were put to use, and crewmen began bailing out the water.

Concern grew when the mast slipped below water. The team called for more pumps and airbags.

With the help of flotation buoys, the rig was saved and the tender was able to begin the long tow home.

Oracle Racing has time on its side - it is the first challenger for the 2003 Cup to set up in Auckland and has been sailing here for the past month.

Team New Zealand and another American challenge, OneWorld, plan to be out on the gulf in the next few weeks.

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