Sailing: Two boats crash into spectacular collision at start of The Ocean Race Europe

The start of the stage race from Kiel, Germany, was marked by a collision between the Holcim-PRB boat of the Dutchwoman Rosalin Kuiper and the Mapei of the Italian Ambrogio Beccaria on Sunday.

A spectacular collision off the German city of Kiel marred the start of the second edition of The Ocean Race Europe , a crewed leg race pitting several Vendée Globe yachts against each other on Sunday, August 10. Two minutes after crossing the start line, while sailing side by side, the Holcim-PRB boat of the Dutchwoman Rosalin Kuiper and the Mapei of the Italian Ambrogio Beccaria collided with their side appendages.

In an extremely rare accident for this type of technology-packed boat, Holcim-PRB's port foil tore Mapei's headsail and mainsail, while the latter pierced its rival's hull with its outrigger (a lateral tube that helps support the mast). The two monohulls quickly turned around to return to port, where they will have to decide whether to repair the damage and resume racing, either during this leg or the next.

A total of seven yachts, with mixed and international crews, set off on this first leg between Kiel and Portsmouth, on the south coast of England. A variation of the famous Ocean Race, a crewed leg race around the world, The Ocean Race Europe is an 8,300 km journey around the continent, aboard IMOCAs, the Vendée Globe monohulls. The following legs will take them to Cartagena, in southeastern Spain, Nice, and Genoa before finishing in Kotor, Montenegro, in September.