According to Merriam-Webster – It is spelled Pitchpole and, when used as an intransitive verb means: to turn end over end e.g. <the catamarand pitchpoled>.
It appears that is what happened last week on San Francisco Bay when America’s Cup sailboat AC45 tumbled across the Bay and made a splash on the evening news.
The San Francisco Examiner was on the scene and reported that the two AC45s (45-foot catamarans owned by Oracle Racing) were running practice races at the Golden Gate Yacht Club, and that one of the boats tipped over as the vessels jockeyed for position to begin a race. “Tipped over” sounds mild compared to what is visible in the video below.
Design Challenges?
Obviously there will be design challenges that this type of boat faces in trying to balance performance with stability. Imagine how messy it might get when the even larger AC72 yachts race for the America’s Cup in San Francisco in 2013.
Here’s the video…
And away we go again!
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