Brit’s America’s Cup test boat catches fire after double capsize

Ineos Britannia, Britain’s challenger for the 37th America’s Cup, has suffered a setback after its T6 test boat capsized and caught fire while on the water during a test day in Palma Bay, Mallorca in Spain.

Ineos Britannia had Giles Scott and Sir Ben Ainslie on the wheels yesterday afternoon (8 February 2023), with Iain Jensen and Leigh McMillan initially taking the flight control and trimming in the forward pod positions.

However the day took a turn for the worse just before 4pm as the T6 got loose with a leeward heel and bow up. Seconds later the team found themselves capsized. The Ineos chase boat arrived quickly and attached a tow line to right the vessel.

But as the boat came upright the team failed to hold the bow into the wind, and with the sails unable to be released, the boat flipped back over onto the other side and capsized again.

As the boat rolled over, this time the rig continued to go under, and the boat was soon fully inverted — or ‘turtled’ in sailing lingo.

For over two hours, the shore crew and sailors worked together 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 a further setback, when the lithium batteries that power the yacht’s systems, reacted to seawater ingress, sparking a fire on board. Ineos says the response was well managed with specialist training coming to the fore to mitigate any damage.

Speaking about the incident, Ainslie says: “We salvaged the best I think we could and finally got the boat upright and then to cap it off we had some major issues with the lithium batteries setting alight which was the final bit of carnage for the day.

“We’ve got the boat back in probably the best shape we could considering it went turtle and we’ll re-group and have a look at what the issues are and what caused it. The only positive was that we were about to go into an upgrade window so if this was going to happen, it’s not a bad time.”

And praising his team, Ainslie adds: “The team did a brilliant job. We sort of train for these things but until it actually happens, you’re never quite sure and that’s the first capsize we’ve had full turtle in these boats so plenty of learnings for us and I’m sure for the other teams watching, but we’ll take it on the chin and come back from it.”

Earlier this month, The Accor hotel group named its Orient Express brand as the title partner of the official French challenger for the 37th America’s Cup in 2024. K-Challenge will be known as the Orient Express team.

France, representing the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez yacht club, joined as the event’s surprise fifth challenger in January.