choque and awe

The Soto 40 continues to spread its wings, with five of the winged yachts showing up in Punta Del Este, Uruguay for the OD Copa.  More impressive than the turnout – by far – was the beautifully captured images of a port-starboard crash (‘choque’ in Spanish) that shows just how powerful – and dangerous – this kind of impact can be. Note to navigators/tacticians: Next time you’re on port tack in some breeze, remember this video.  If a mainsheet winch can be torn out of the deck this easily, imagine what could happen to a limb just because you decided not to go low to check for traffic.  For notes from someone who was at this one, check the Soto thread here. Oh and here’s the same incident from the other perspective.

And not exactly breaking news, but here is the first US S 40. Want one? Click here.