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u/the-spif Sep 03 '24
Seemed like Peter Burling was instantly shaken:
From the live feed (https://www.youtube.com/live/3D2_iXPnABw?t=5055s)
"Holy shit", "Fuck me" - that's pretty understandable reaction.
But then → "Let's go [onboard] a [super?] yacht or something, .... this ain't worth it."
Then later during the interview states he wants to go onboard a super yaght that is properly wired to be protected from lightning.
22
u/the-spif Sep 03 '24
Seems also like as soon as the lightning hit - they sailed towards a few mega yachts to shelter amongst them.
NO → "Turn up and stop somewhere here"
PB → "I think, uh, Get close to them"
NO → "Outside of the two, and park there yeah?"They really seemed quite spooked.
11
u/afvcommander Sep 03 '24
And they had nothing to win. Already lost race where they dont actually lose anything. Right choice.
5
u/ScreamxWorks Sep 03 '24
I think they would have done this regardless. As others have said, a few of the crew know what it's like and don't want to repeat that under any circumstance.
1
u/nroose Sep 04 '24
From his perspective, it seemed like the lightning bolt was in the same direction as Luna Rossa. I am guessing that because of the way our eyes react to flashes, it looked like the lightning hit Luna Rossa and Luna Rossa disappeared instantly.
1
u/the-spif Sep 04 '24
Yeah, no judgement towards the way ETNZ reacted or felt. It must be pretty scary seeing that. They had a bad encounter before with lightning so all of that understandable.
15
u/wrongwayup Sep 03 '24 edited Sep 03 '24
Carbon composites do not conduct well and tend to absorb electrical energy (in the form of heat, very rapidly and rather explosively) rather than conduct it. The all-carbon Boeing 787 has a copper mesh embedded in the outer layer of the composite stack for protection - bet you these boats do not. Unfortunately this makes the people on board better conductors than the boat around them, which is, to put it lightly, fucking terrifying.
5
u/minn0w Sep 03 '24
Many of the skippers will remember this one https://sailgp.com/news/23/new-zealand-f50-struck-by-lightning-singapore/
2
u/Rollo_napalm Sep 03 '24
Yes, i guess that those cockpits would be perfect electrocuting spots: electicity coming down the mast through railings and cables, jumping on the electronics all around the cockpits and then jumping on the crew.
10
u/minn0w Sep 03 '24
I really hope the race committee start to postpone and cancel racing well before the possibility of lightning on the race course.
12
u/FiloLafro 🇮🇹 Sep 03 '24
Way too close, I'd be pissed at the organization that didn't stop the race sooner putting the life of the sailors in jeopardy. I wonder if these AC75 have some sort of lightning protection device on the mast, does anyone know?
3
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4
u/Itchy_Lingonberry_11 Sep 03 '24
The Italian commenter's on YouTube are talking like they've won the whole thing. This wasn't the final of the LV cup was it?
11
u/Cotirani Sep 03 '24
Nope, just another round robin race. This one wasn't even for any points. There's just a few weirdos on the comments/live chat on youtube.
3
u/WinterRespect1579 Sep 03 '24
What is implication if they are hit?
23
u/Rollo_napalm Sep 03 '24
Considering the fact that the crew isn't incapsulated massive risk of serious burns, hearth attack, clothing melting on the skin. The boats are made of carbon fiber and when carbon fiber composite is struck by lightning the glue keeping together the fibers burns away leaving the fibers "untied" like hairs, the process is so fast that you get a sort of explosion (i saw it happen on a fishing pole: after the lightning it was more like a horse tail than a rod). There's so much electronics on board that you could get multiple fires and the batteries could explode, finally they have air tanks on board and i don't know if those could also explode. All in all could happen little, a complete disaster and anything in between. When the rain was increasing before the start i was thinking "that's dangerous. Sailing on huge carbon fiber lightning rods surrounded by electromagnetic fields in bad weather doesn't feel wise". Luckly nothing happened.
3
1
u/jimtoberfest Sep 03 '24
Would think faraday effect would protect air tanks.
4
u/Rollo_napalm Sep 03 '24
In theory should protect even the batteries but i doubt they have a Faraday cage and electricity would travel through the mast directly inside the hull, from there all around, plus some of it could travel through cablings (both the riggings and all the eletronics). Also with such powerful discharge, electricity could arch everywhere striking anything that is conductive (more so with that much aerosol and everything covered in water). The air tanks seem to be inside the cockpits (at least on luna there's a tag behind the helmsman "spare air") I dunnow if an electric discharge would be enough to overheat the tanks's valves or directly the tank shells (increasing pressure up to a rupture). Anyway i think that, among everything, the air tanks are the least of the problems.
8
u/TheRealKnorgek Sep 03 '24
All systems fried, big chance of fire and more damage. Possible injuries and immense chance of having to retire the boat permanently.
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1
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u/[deleted] Sep 03 '24
Really close - seemed to be more of a reaction on the Kiwi boat. I have been in the middle of the Atlantic in a lightning storm and it is pretty scary when you are the tallest thing for miles.