America’s Cup

A French America’s Cup yacht rear-ended Spirit of Australia during a practice race off San Diego, knocking both sloops out of practice races for at least two days.

The collision occurred as the boats rounded the leeward mark at the end of the second leg of the America’s Cup course.

The Australian boat slowed as its spinnaker dropped into the water. The French boat, Ville de Paris, was unable to steer clear and rode up onto Spirit of Australia’s transom for about a minute and a half.

“The French boat was actually outside of us,” Spirit of Australia skipper Peter Gilmour said. “They came tearing across our stern, drug their spinnaker all over our rigging, then just all of sudden turned pretty hard. In the moment of turning, they misjudged and ran straight into the back of us rather than going to the outside.”

Marc Pajot, skipper for Le Defi Francais, said the French team accepted responsibility.

“We’ll pay for the damage to both boats,” he said. “We have apologized to Iain (Murray) and Peter and all of their team.”

Ville de Paris, skippered by Bertrand Pace, suffered external damage to the bow at the waterline but didn’t take on water, a spokeswoman said. It will be out of the water for two days.

“The back two feet of the boat are destroyed and have to be remade,” said Murray, head of the Spirit of Australia syndicate and the crew’s tactician.