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Safety onboard the AC72’s has always and will always be paramount. In the event of a capsize, people first, boat second. Whenever the AC72 sails, two paramedic divers are on the chase boat standing by in the case of capsize and injury. Members of the sailing crew have undergone safety training nothing quite as dramatic as this week’s session at an Auckland swimming pool.
In the case of capsize, best safety practice more often than not goes out the window and instinct kicks in. So Emirates Team New Zealand’s marine safety and medic officer Calvin Hicks put together a training course to get the sailing team an idea of what it will be like to have to fall into the water from more than 10 metres in the case of an AC72 capsize.
“What we are trying to do is implant memory into the guys of what it actually feels like to fall from over 10 metres. There were a lot of nerves initially, but in the end the guys all ended up pretty comfortable so it was a really positive exercise.”
View the video here and Chris Cameron’s pictures here.
Banner image by Chris Cameron/ETNZ
