Test Boat T6 suffers damage after capsizing in Palma

INEOS Britannia, Britain's challenger for the 37th America 's Cup, has suffered damage to their T6 Test Boat after a capsize incident during a test day on Palma Bay, Mallorca in Spain.

Since September 2022, the team have been based out of Palma, for their winter training camp, where they have built a temporary base operation, as part of their preparations for AC37.

The capsize incident happened four hours into the test day after rounding up from a downwind course to an upwind course in 18 knots of breeze.

After initially lying on its side, T6 rolled over to fully invert in the water with mast and double skinned main sail submerged, work quickly began to get her back upright.

The shore crew and sailors worked together for over two hours and after initially righting T6 back on its side they were able to fully right the yacht. T6 was then side towed by support boat back to the team base, where a full assessment of damage is underway.

The team also faced further challenges when the lithium batteries, that powers the yachts systems, reacted to seawater ingress causing a fire on board. The response was well managed with specialist training coming to the fore to mitigate the damage.

INEOS Britannia Skipper and Team Principal Sir Ben Ainslie said, “It was a tough situation for the team once T6 fully inverted. Everyone came together well to resolve what could have been a much more serious issue in salvaging the yacht. Thankfully everyone is safe, and we can now focus on repairing the damage as part of a pre-scheduled upgrade window at the end of this week.”