Boats Participating In ‘The Ocean Race’ Attacked In Atlantic By Pod Of Orcas West Of Gibraltar

Two sailboats participating in ‘The Ocean Race‘ were attacked by a pod of orcas this Friday, June 23.

The race – staged since 1973 – is known as one of the world’s most complex and demanding team competitions in which the sailors compete against nature and the sea.

What they didn’t expect, was the additional involvement of killer whales who seemingly decided they wanted to ‘play’ with the boats.

Today’s incident occurred at around 2:50 pm while the two VO65 sailboats belonging to Team JAJO and Mirpuri Trifork Racing were racing in the Atlantic, located to the west of Gibraltar.

This part of the world has recently seen a spate of similar attacks by one or more specimens of this cetacean on the hulls or the rudders of boats.

As the team members were battling the waves to reach their destination, their boats were suddenly attacked by a pod of orcas.

In a tweet posted on The Ocean Race account @theoceanrace, they wrote: ‘On their approach to Gibraltar this afternoon, Team JAJO encountered a pod of orcas which led to a scary moment on board the VO65! Thankfully, the crew and the boat are unharmed. The Dutch boat skippered by Jelmer van Beek is back on its way to Genova’.

On their approach to Gibraltar this afternoon, Team JAJO encountered a pod of orcas which led to a scary moment on board the VO65! Thankfully, the crew and the boat are unharmed. The Dutch boat skippered by Jelmer van Beek is back on its way to Genova.#TheOceanRace #VO65Sprint pic.twitter.com/jbW7j1iFMr

— The Ocean Race (@theoceanrace) June 22, 2023

Fortunately, there were no injuries or material damage to the boats, even though the killer whales reportedly put all their efforts into hitting, pushing, ramming, and biting the rudders of the boats for around 20 minutes.

The sailors suddenly found themselves experiencing one of the most dangerous, surreal and complicated situations of their lives, according to 20minutos.es.

After the incident subsided, Jelmer van Beek, the skipper of the Team JAJO boat radioed: “20 minutes ago some orcas hit us. Three orcas came directly towards us and began to hit the rudders. It is impressive to see the orcas, very beautiful, but it’s also been a dangerous time for us as a team”.

He continued: “We removed the sails and reduced the speed of the boat as quickly as possible and, fortunately, after a few attacks, they left… It was a terrifying moment”.

Although a seasoned sailor, Van Beek acknowledged that he had never faced such an extreme situation on the high seas. His was just one of two boats to suffer this traumatic experience during ‘The Ocean Race’ with the other competitors not being affected.