Aussie sailor’s near-miss in America’s Cup electrical storm

Luna Rossa’s America’s Cup challenge was almost ended by a “potentially catastrophic” lightning strike over the race course on day five of the challenger series.

Racing had to be abandoned for the day after fork lightning dramatically struck the course 200m in front of the Italians as they led New Zealand down the final leg of their race.

Sailors on the New Zealand boat, around 700m further back, could be heard exclaiming “Holy s—” and “f— me” as they turned tail and fled the course, swiftly lowering their sails and making for the cover of some tall superyachts.

Australian Jimmy Spithill, one of the co-helms aboard Luna Rossa, joked that he had actually felt relatively comfortable.

“I actually felt okay because I’ve been struck by lightning twice before,” he said. “They say when you’ve been hit before your odds of getting hit again are way smaller. So I reckon we were the safest boat in the fleet.

“It would have been catastrophic for the boat, though, no question. Both times I’ve been hit it destroyed the boat. The first time the boat actually caught fire because it was wooden and it hit the rig.

“I felt the lightning through my body. You get a shock but it’s like your eardrums get blown up.”

Lightning hitting boats is a fairly common occurrence and can have devastating consequences for the vessel and its crew.

Danish sailor Martin Kirketerp was hospitalised at SailGP Singapore last year after New Zealand’s F50 was struck by lightning. Kirketerp, who was touching a shroud, a bit of rigging which holds up the mast, sustained an electric shock and was immediately evacuated for medical assistance.