Podcast Maré Sonora ® · video

What this video covers

Jérôme Poncet recounts the March 1974 orca strike that sank the racing yacht Guia 3 during the third leg of the Atlantic Triangle race, sailing from Rio de Janeiro toward the finish.2:03 An orca struck the cold-molded wooden hull while Poncet was asleep; the man at the wheel heard a single loud bang and within seconds saw the bow already dipping.9:27 The crew attempted to plug the hole with canvas, but too much water had entered.14:52 The boat sank bow-first in roughly ten to fifteen minutes, going vertical at the end.22:46 As it sank, a large male orca was visible alongside the hull; the rest of the pod circled the boat.20:01 Poncet was last to leave.22:23 Six survivors boarded an inflating life raft, saving food, water, and — by Poncet's account — his cigarettes.15:28 He estimated at least a month of drifting before reaching the South American coast on trade winds and half-knot current, but a Greek cargo ship bound from Cape Town to New York spotted their flares roughly twelve to eighteen hours after the sinking.32:08 The ship had to switch from heavy fuel to light fuel before it could slow and maneuver to them.49:13 The survivors were taken to New York and housed at the Waldorf Astoria.54:09 Poncet also describes his earlier participation in the first round-the-world race aboard Guia 3 for Italian owner Giorgio Falk.2:49 Cold-molded wood, unlike steel, cannot withstand a multi-ton orca at full speed.27:14

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