My suspicion is that the wind suddenly changed direction and caused the two vessels to jibe unexpectedly. If you’ve ever been sailing, an unplanned jibe is very violent and fast, causing the boom to rip from one side of the boat to the other. Unfortunately it is easy to get whacked by the boom in that situation and is extremely dangerous.
Tragic. Hope this leads to changes to make it safer.
My suspicion is that the wind suddenly changed direction and caused the two vessels to jibe unexpectedly. If you’ve ever been sailing, an unplanned jibe is very violent and fast, causing the boom to rip from one side of the boat to the other. Unfortunately it is easy to get whacked by the boom in that situation and is extremely dangerous.
Not a sailor so excuse my ignorance. But do they wear helmets? Is the boom padded?
No to both, questions are always welcome.
Only on larger ships of yore would the boom be above head level, death by concussion has been a problem on smaller boats for millennia.