The killer whale attacks ships on the Spanish coast do not cease and concern is growing. The last one, last night, in the Mediterranean, off Estepona. The attacked ship was ‘Third Kapote’ by Ignacio González Camachowho was heading towards Palma de Mallorca to compete in the 41st Copa del Rey MAPFRE. The crew is safe and uninjured, although it does They had to be towed to the Puerto Deportivo de Estepona by Salvamento Marítimo since they had no control over the boat due to the broken rudder.
Santi Villagran, crew member of the ‘Kapote tercero’ explained the incident and “thank God nothing has happened. We were nearing Estepona, some four or five miles, and we were passing the Strait with a west point of 28-30 knots. We were laughing, talking and just as we were preparing dinner we suffered the attack. I didn’t think they were going to attack us here. When I looked back there was the orca, with the rudder from one side to the other. We quickly furled the sails, lowered gear and managed to stop the boat. We saw a group of three/four orcas, two watching and others acting, biting. They came and after two minutes they left. The first blow was the one that loaded the rudder. Between five and ten minutes it did last all and They had to pick us up because we were going to the rocks because we didn’t have a government.”
The ‘Third Kapote’ is a Sun Fast 37 that belongs to CN Puerto Sherry and was sailing to Palma de Mallorca to compete in the Majorica ORC 3 category. After this attack, his participation remains up in the air because the exact damage that he may have suffered to the structure of the boat is still unknown. Throughout this Friday it will be evaluated and it is expected that this afternoon and tomorrow, Saturday, the pertinent repairs will be carried out. “The rudder blade is broken, sure. Let’s hope that when we take it out of the water it won’t fall and see how the axis is, hopefully it won’t be annoyedVillagran commented. The first thing will be to put fiber at the helm and then hope that on Sunday they can resume the march towards the Copa del Rey MAPFRE. There is optimism and confidence: “We will try to arrive on time,” he added. The sports coordinator of the Copa del Rey MAPFRE, Vivi Mainemare, will be in charge of monitoring them and the organization has already conveyed their full support.
The ‘Kapote third’ is not the first boat that was going to be in the Copa del Rey to be affected by the attack of a group of orcas because Jorge Durán’s ‘Corsair’ suffered them at the height of Barbate (Cádiz). This one suffered damage to the rudder and repairing it is, likewise, a time trial to try to be in Palma de Mallorca in time for the start of the competition, which will be on Monday the 31st of this month.