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Orcas off Spain and Portugal: what to do, and who pays for the rudder?
Short answer
For several years orcas off Spain and Portugal have been striking the rudders of sailing yachts. If you are heading that way, plan the route on current reports, report every encounter and settle beforehand how the wording treats rudder damage.
Between the Bay of Biscay, the Portuguese coast and the Strait of Gibraltar, orcas have been interacting with sailing yachts for several years. The animals usually approach from astern, push against the rudder blade and turn it, sometimes until it breaks. Most of the boats involved are mid sized sailing yachts on passage to or from the Mediterranean. For many British and Irish owners taking a boat south for a season in the sun, this stretch is now the leg that needs the most thought.
Planning starts before you leave. Authorities and research groups publish where encounters have been reported, and the hotspots move with the season. The advice on how to behave during an encounter has changed more than once, so follow current guidance from Spanish and Portuguese authorities before the passage, not a forum post from two years ago. Report every encounter by VHF to the nearest MRCC and note it in the log with position and time. Sailing the leg in company with other yachts brings help closer if the rudder fails.
When there is damage, the wording decides. Whether a rudder broken by orcas counts as an insured event depends on how the hull cover is written: some wordings list damage by animals among the exclusions, others say nothing on the point. Ask for a written answer before the passage, check that the cruising limits reach the Atlantic coast of Spain and Portugal, and if it happens, record position, time, photographs and the report you made to the authorities. Those records carry weight later.
Worth remembering
Before the passage
read reports, check the wording, plan steering without a rudder
After an encounter
report it, record position and photographs
Ask beforehand and there is less to argue about afterwards.
Questions
What owners ask us about this
Where do orca encounters with yachts happen?
Mostly between the Bay of Biscay, the Atlantic coast of Portugal and the Strait of Gibraltar. The hotspots move with the season, so read the current reports before every passage.
What should I do if orcas approach the boat?
Follow current guidance from Spanish and Portuguese authorities, which has changed several times. Report the encounter by VHF to the nearest MRCC and record it in the log.
Who pays for a rudder damaged by orcas?
That depends on the policy wording; some list damage by animals as an exclusion. Ask for written confirmation of how your policy treats this case before you set off.
How can I prepare the boat for the passage?
Plan how you would steer without a rudder, with an emergency rudder or a drogue, keep a towline ready and have the details of the nearest MRCC in the log.
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