Shark attacks Lark

Hi Everyone, this is lee from photolounge, i took the photo.

glad you liked the photo, unfortunately the helm is recovering in hospital from bite marks as we speak, luckily they aren't life threatening but serious enough, who thought basking sharks would react like that to being run over.

Seriosly though,

Unfortunately (for me) it isn't a shark, think it might have got national press if it was. As boatshed said it was the pintle snapping as they planed down a wave.

below is the sequence. Glad it entertained you all.

Its a probably a broken transom pintle on the first day of the Lark champs at Penzance.  Pretty fresh conditions with the club recording 40 knot gusts.  Its probably a carbon fixed blade rudder that has upended.  Larks tend to use ( any shape or style) very large rudders to help dig them out of trouble - they dutch roll very well.  Of course, that also puts big loads on the "close togther" transom fittings.   

The team in question are still racing in Largs. We need the photographer (Lee Whitehead) to give us more information on the circumstances around this. It has left me a little confused - that's why I put it up as a front page picture!

Well, it's penzance so it's possible it's a shark and hitting a basking shark at speed could cause the boat to respond in that way but I don't think they feed when it's rough.

What do you thinks going on?

I reckon it's a slim chance that it's a shark much more likely it's the rudder, but I can't remember what shape a Lark rudder blade is.

Leave the picture up - I'm with Rick on getting to the bottom of it.