Artemis flips..... One crew dead, main spar failed possibly...

Artemis 72 has capsized broken up, and one crewmember has been reported dead. Awaiting details on what happened but it is thought the boat pitch-poled & flipped. Main beam broke.

 

A member of the Swedish America's Cup racing team died Thursday when the team's sailboat capsized a half-mile north of Treasure Island, authorities said.

The boat, operated by the Artemis racing team, tipped over at 1:15 p.m., said Coast Guard Petty Officer Mellissa Deaton.

Rescuers pulled 13 sailors from the water. One man was taken on an Artemis support boat to the St. Francis Yacht Club, where a team paramedic performed CPR, said Mindy Talmadge, a San Francisco Fire Department spokeswoman.

   

This is not the first time one of the 72-foot sailing boats belonging to teams training for the America's Cup has crashed in the bay.

In October, an Oracle Team USA boat pitch-poled forward into the water, sending the 11-member crew flying into the water.

No one was badly hurt, but the $8 million boat was dragged out the Golden Gate by the tide and was smashed to bits by waves.

 

It was not immediately known what caused the boat, a 72-foot catamaran with a wingsail, to capsize. The crew was training at the time, authorities said.

The boat's bright-red underside was visible from Treasure Island, about 100 feet from the northeast shore, as a dozen other boats surrounded it. They appeared to be towing it away from shore southeast to another part of the island.

Starboard hull of boat one broken, bow still visible under the port hull - wing still seems to be substantially in one piece...