MEU

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Yacht damaged by orcas

The 'Meu', en route from Brest, had an interaction with orcas while sailing 4,5 nautical miles west of Cabo Tourinan in pos. 43 04 32 N, 009 24 03 W in northwest Spain on Sep 6, 2023, at approximately 11.20 a.m. UTC, as the crew headed for the destination of the day, the port of Cape Finisterre. As a result, the yacht suffered damage to its rudder and had a small water ingress through a crack, which could, however, be controlled by the crew. A total of 3-4 adult orcas swam at full speed against the rudder blade over and over again. In order to escape the orcas, the crew of the "MEU" starts the engine, but the rudder was shredded, while the whales continued to attack and kept swimming against the yacht. The CCS Fisterra mobilized the SAR vessel 'Salvamar Altair' to assist, which took the damaged yacht in tow and safely pulled to the port of Camarinas. At the start of August, skipper Clara Weimer (26) from the "Lübeck Yacht Club" had started a 14-month tourm which should go in 36 stages via the Canary Islands and Cape Verde to the Caribbean, on the whole 15,000 nautical miles, with the return to Trevemünde scheduled for Oct 2024.