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Sailor's terror as pod of killer whales sank £100k boat in two-hour attack
Robert Powell, the captain of a 39ft yacht, has described how a family of orcas took the boat down in less than two hours while he was sailing in the Mediterranean Sea earlier this week
A British yacht captain claims a pod of killer whales sunk his £100,000 boat during a "terrifying" two-hour attack.
Robert Powell, 59, said the pack of five orcas encircled his 39ft sailing boat “like wolves” and “took it in turns” to smash into the ship off the coast of Spain.
He and two crew were 22 hours into a 10-day trip between Vilamoura, in Portugal, and Greece when the animals began their violent attack at 8pm on Wednesday, roughly two miles offshore.
After they knocked out the Bonhomme William’s rudder, the animals spent the next few hours charging into it which caused the vessel to buckle under the pressure and sink.
Describing the moment the orcas chose to strike, Robert said: “All of a sudden I felt something really hard hit the bottom of the boat.
“My initial reaction was that I’d hit a rock or fishing net – or I’d hit something submerged – and it shuddered the whole boat. It was a big hit. Whilst I was looking around the boat to see if I could see anything - I was doing about five to six knots - it got hit again.
“On the second hit, I looked over the back of the boat and I could see the dark shape of a killer whale in the water. That killer whale was accompanied by two others. At this stage, these three were fairly young, fairly smallish juveniles, and they were hitting the rudder really violently and hard.”
He added: “Once the rudder was disabled, all five orcas circled the boat. And one by one they kept coming in and ramming in various different places. They’d ram the keel, ram the stern. The boat, with no rudder, just goes around in circles. They were circling. It was like watching wolves hunt.
"They were taking it in turns to come in – sometimes two would come in at the same time and hit it. So obviously pretty terrifying. It was a very long attack, and it was really the violence of the attack that surprised me.
“To me they were not playing at all, they knew exactly what they were doing. They knew the weak points of the boat and they knew how to sink it. Their sole intention was to sink the boat, and that was it.”
Robert radioed for help but said he and his crew had felt like “sitting ducks” as they waited for rescue. Around 90 minutes after the whales launched their attack, Robert said he heard the hull split and water started gushing into the main living area.
The IT manager said he tried a couple of different strategies to put off the orcas, including putting firecrackers in the water.
He said: “One of the other ploys that people say to get rid of orcas is to switch the engine off and go quiet and just do nothing. I tried that and I was just a sitting duck and they just hit me even harder.”
A Spanish salvage vessel helped them leave their stricken ship - and within 15 minutes of being rescued the boat sank, Robert said.
Orca attacks on sailing ships in the Mediterranean are on the rise. In May a boat sank in the Straights of Gibraltar after being rammed.
Robert, who lives in London, believes the pod that attacked and sunk his vessel could be the same that has been terrorizing other skippers.
He said: “I’ve heard of a group that operates around that area. I’ve sailed it before, I sailed it last year.
"I know other people who have been hit. They’ve not had their boats sunk but have had it damaged badly. And I have a feeling that this group are boat sinkers – I think they knew what they were doing.”
whales. The fight between man and beast is going to get worse. Luckily none of us were in the water or got hurt.
“If that family have decided to move in there and live – any boat that goes there is going to be running the gauntlet and it’s a lottery as to whether they hit you or not.”
Daily Star Sunday
![0_BANNER.jpg](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article33331384.ece/ALTERNATES/s1176b/0_BANNER.jpg)
Robert Powell, the captain of a 39ft yacht, has described how a family of orcas took the boat down in less than two hours while he was sailing in the Mediterranean Sea earlier this week
A British yacht captain claims a pod of killer whales sunk his £100,000 boat during a "terrifying" two-hour attack.
Robert Powell, 59, said the pack of five orcas encircled his 39ft sailing boat “like wolves” and “took it in turns” to smash into the ship off the coast of Spain.
He and two crew were 22 hours into a 10-day trip between Vilamoura, in Portugal, and Greece when the animals began their violent attack at 8pm on Wednesday, roughly two miles offshore.
After they knocked out the Bonhomme William’s rudder, the animals spent the next few hours charging into it which caused the vessel to buckle under the pressure and sink.
Describing the moment the orcas chose to strike, Robert said: “All of a sudden I felt something really hard hit the bottom of the boat.
“My initial reaction was that I’d hit a rock or fishing net – or I’d hit something submerged – and it shuddered the whole boat. It was a big hit. Whilst I was looking around the boat to see if I could see anything - I was doing about five to six knots - it got hit again.
“On the second hit, I looked over the back of the boat and I could see the dark shape of a killer whale in the water. That killer whale was accompanied by two others. At this stage, these three were fairly young, fairly smallish juveniles, and they were hitting the rudder really violently and hard.”
He added: “Once the rudder was disabled, all five orcas circled the boat. And one by one they kept coming in and ramming in various different places. They’d ram the keel, ram the stern. The boat, with no rudder, just goes around in circles. They were circling. It was like watching wolves hunt.
"They were taking it in turns to come in – sometimes two would come in at the same time and hit it. So obviously pretty terrifying. It was a very long attack, and it was really the violence of the attack that surprised me.
“To me they were not playing at all, they knew exactly what they were doing. They knew the weak points of the boat and they knew how to sink it. Their sole intention was to sink the boat, and that was it.”
Robert radioed for help but said he and his crew had felt like “sitting ducks” as they waited for rescue. Around 90 minutes after the whales launched their attack, Robert said he heard the hull split and water started gushing into the main living area.
The IT manager said he tried a couple of different strategies to put off the orcas, including putting firecrackers in the water.
He said: “One of the other ploys that people say to get rid of orcas is to switch the engine off and go quiet and just do nothing. I tried that and I was just a sitting duck and they just hit me even harder.”
A Spanish salvage vessel helped them leave their stricken ship - and within 15 minutes of being rescued the boat sank, Robert said.
Orca attacks on sailing ships in the Mediterranean are on the rise. In May a boat sank in the Straights of Gibraltar after being rammed.
Robert, who lives in London, believes the pod that attacked and sunk his vessel could be the same that has been terrorizing other skippers.
He said: “I’ve heard of a group that operates around that area. I’ve sailed it before, I sailed it last year.
"I know other people who have been hit. They’ve not had their boats sunk but have had it damaged badly. And I have a feeling that this group are boat sinkers – I think they knew what they were doing.”
whales. The fight between man and beast is going to get worse. Luckily none of us were in the water or got hurt.
“If that family have decided to move in there and live – any boat that goes there is going to be running the gauntlet and it’s a lottery as to whether they hit you or not.”
Daily Star Sunday