In the latest example of how not to place a photo RIB on a race course, a driver on Lake Garda carrying Italian photographer Carlo Borlenghi was nearly sliced in half by Monaco’s Prince Casiraghi at the helm of a GC32 yesterday during Foiling Week racing. This photo thanks to Phantom Of The Oscar. UPDATE: Boot Dusseldorf has reposted the crash video. Sit down and have a look.
Foiling event organizers, take note: We’ve now seen fairly experienced folks like Dave Reed (Sailing World wrecks the G4), Shirley Robertson (CNN Mainsail wrecks Bora’s moth), and a VOR volunteer RIB driver in Lorient (amputated by the Spindrift 2) all putting themselves in dangerous positions leading to massive damage or injuries. Our suggestion is a new rule: All support boat drivers at ultra-high speed events MUST BE TRAINED in the specific techniques and dangers of the boats they’re covering or they cannot work the event. If this policy is not adopted, it’ll only be so long before the first death by foils. To point out the obvious, and despite what Sailing World and Robertson may have claimed, when a boat under power is in a wreck with a sailboat, it is the motorboat’s fault. Get educated.
