A wild scene unfolded during the third fleet race of a practice day at the Apex Group Bermuda Sail Grand Prix this past Friday as members of Team USA went flying out of their boat after it capsized.
As the boat reached Mark 1, the top wing of the U.S. boat was inverted, which caused it to suddenly flip over.
Five of the six crew members on the boat for the U.S. team were sent overboard, though no serious injuries were sustained.
It was determined that there was “user error” that caused the boat to capsize, according to data from the United States’ F50 boat. Wing trimmer Victor Diaz de Leon had pressed a button, which inverted the wing by accident.
Diaz de Leon was attempting to flatten the wing, but he simply pushed the wrong button to do so. The button had been pressed a total of seven times, SailGP’s data team found.
“While operating the wing, I chose the wrong function on my control panel, which caused our boat to flip. It was very scary, and I’m thankful all my teammates are safe,” Diaz de Leon said, per SailGP.com.
While no serious injuries occurred for the team, the United States was unable to race in Bermuda due to the significant damage their F50 took from the capsizing.
The team couldn’t repair the boat in time for official racing.
Taylor Canfield’s United States squad currently ranks seventh out of 10 squads in season 4 of SailGP this season.
They own 49 points, while the leaders, Peter Burling’s New Zealand squad, have 77 points on the year.
