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Mishap
capsizes corporate promotion - 26th October 2004
(Credit:
The Sydney Morning Herald)
An embarrassing crash into Sydney's Opera House took
the wind out of the sails of a British newspaper's
marketing campaign.
A
former America's Cup yacht crewed by experienced locals
struck rocks below the Opera House, tearing off its
keel, causing it to capsize and throwing several people
overboard.
The
mast on the 22-metre yacht Spirit, which contested
the 1992 America's Cup as Spirit of Australia, then
smashed a light on the Opera House walkway before
the yacht came to rest.
No-one
was hurt, but the mishap provided a sinking feeling
for British newspaper the Financial Times (FT), which
had chartered the yacht as part of a marketing campaign
following its launch in Australia five weeks ago.
The
accident forced the FT to postpone a promotional media
and photo session on the yacht, scheduled for Wednesday.
A
visiting Briton had a crows-nest view of the incident,
on the eastern side of the Opera House at about 12.30pm
(AEST).
"They
were just sailing ... (when) there was a huge crash,"
said Richard Long, a sailor from London who got a
shock - and some unusual holiday snaps - while sightseeing
at the famous landmark.
"The
end of the keel has a big bulb on it with several
tonnes of lead on the bottom - when it hit the rock
it broke off.
"(The
yacht) then fell over and the top of the mast hit
the walkway.
"And
then she was stuck, stuck fast ... otherwise it would
have turned upside down."
About
14 people were on board but all escaped injury.
"No
one was injured, everyone's just a little shaken,"
said bowman Benny Mawson.
"We
were taking out the sponsors on a harbour cruise when
we hit the rocks.
"We
came in too close and hit the bottom.
"As
we did, the boat pivoted on the keel and it ripped
the big 20-tonne of lead that keeps the boat upright
right off."
The
23-year-old said he had heard of boats running into
rocks in Sydney Harbour before.
"We're
not the first to hit rocks in the harbour, it's just
a bit unfortunate that we happened to hit the Opera
House," Mr Mawson said.
Most
of the crew members were picked up by a water taxi
after the accident, but some stayed to cut the sail
from the mast so the yacht could be moved.
Several
boats escorted the damaged yacht as it was taken by
tug boat to a nearby boatyard, where damage will be
assessed.
Designed
and built by Iain Murray for the America's Cup race
in San Diego in 1992, Spirit is one of the fastest
yachts on Sydney Harbour.
Inspector
Geoff Nilon, from the Rocks police, said the skipper
was breathtested as standard procedure.
"I
believe (the result) was negative," Insp Nilon
said.
"The
yacht has now been removed from the scene by Sydney
Waterways, who will be conducting the investigation
into what happened here."
The
NSW Maritime Authority said navigational markers indicated
the preferred channel to take through the harbour,
but there were no strict rules about how far vessels
had to be from the shoreline.
"There
is no set distance vessels have to stay off land,"
a spokeswoman said.
"The
skipper ... has to know the dimensions of the vessel
and the environment the vessel is travelling in."
Media
The
Sydney Morning Herald
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