Orca attacks

[Hurricane]

Two berth holders in Sant Carles have now reported these attacks.
All on the Atlantic side of the Gibraltar Straits.
It seems that there is a single pod of Orca (Killer Whales) that have taken to attacking sailing yachts.
They seem to like chewing the rudders.
Not sure how they would get on with bronze rudders like ours and with huge props nearby but these incidents must be very scary.

The first incident happened to a close friend who had just taken delivery of his new Bavaria Yacht and was in the process of delivering it to Sant Carles during June this year.
The second incident has just been reported on our SCMCHAT (Sant Carles Marina Forum).
Apparently the second incident needed a tow into Barbate.

Anyway, my friend has allowed me to edit and post the video he took of his attack in June.
I haven't edited the audio track so there is some wind noise from the iPhone mic.
But I have cut some of the jerky panning and I've turned the image round so that it plays nicely on a desktop or TV.
Here is his video:

And this was the damage:-




Another boat also turned up whilst my friend was lifted ashore having his damage repaired.
This one lost the whole rudder:-



Cuddly creatures - aren't they!!!

 

[tico]

been some threads on Scuttlebutt and liveaboard forums recently too

 

[Croftie]

Make quite an insurance claim
Well I was watching Jaws when I heard this bang at the rear of the boat......

 

[Hurricane]

Make quite an insurance claim
Well I was watching Jaws when I heard this bang at the rear of the boat......

Regarding Insurance, it was with Pants
And when I last heard, they wanted to repair the rudders rather than replace.
Absolutely crazy - these are GRP rudders that would need to go back into the mould or, at least, have the GRP parts supplied.
It seems to me that it is a simple matter of getting new ones and fitting them.
I'm glad I'm not insured with Pantaenius

 

[Croftie]

IMO that is ridiculous esp on a brand new boat, Could a repair to that ever be as strong as original?

 

[Hurricane]

IMO that is ridiculous esp on a brand new boat, Could a repair to that ever be as strong as original?

Absolutely and the insurance that I had in the first few years of our new boat was "new for old" which I believe that some insurers still offer.
And there was a bar on the linkage (twin rudders) that bent during the attack.
The crew managed to bend it back for the run up to SCM but IMO, that needs replacing as well.

 

[MrB]

I read about this in an email from Noonsite... Orca activity continues to be of concern off the Spanish/Portuguese Atlantic coasts and although it is still only July, interactions are intensifying. ARC Europe boat MAKA encountered Orcas two hours away from Gibraltar in early July, suffering extensive rudder damage (see photo and video link at the bottom of this report). ARC boat Scat Cat was towed into Barbate just last week after being rammed by a pod of Orcas off Tarifa, SW Spain. Scat Cat report that seven yachts have been intercepted by Orcas in that area in the last 7 days. Pods have also recently been sighted off Vigo, Galicia (NW Spain) and further north off France in the Bay of Biscay. Refer to the Atlantic Orca Working Group webpage for information about interactions and the safety protocol developed by the working group. They recommend that if Orcas start to touch the boat, the first thing to do is to stop the boat (even lower the sails) and turn off the autopilot, then follow the steps of the safety protocol.