Infact, Mark told me it was a seal (400 pounder?) that leapt out and hit the alloy pole, bending it. THey did n;t see what exactly caused the two, parallel ~1.5ft cuts through the outer fiberglass skin down near the waterline on the port hull...but were surrounded by dolphins when they heard/felt a bang. To me it looked like the lines were about the right distance apart to be the canines of a seal....can;t see how a dolphin could possibly open it's long snout sufficiently to bite the hull in that area.
They filled the punctures and were about the fit out a loaned, bare carbon pole and I suggested they just bend the alloy one back to near straight...it wasn't kinked and would be quite servicable.
They later discovered their carbon snuffer (Guck) had a nasty hole about the size of a business card worn in the underside of the upper lip (from the the halyard line) and several new tears in the sail. They patched the sail and we jury rigged a section of water bottle plastic to cover the hole and taped it all down. Seemed to hold up pretty well.
From San Diego YC report
Meanwhile, dealing with kelp, light wind and waves isn't the only challenge the competitors face. Drew Wierda of Chicago reported on a rival's encounter with local sea life: "When it comes to war stories, none of us can match Mark Herendreen and Pat Giles, another U.S. entry. Their boat was holed when it was rammed by a seal, and later in the day a dolphin jumped out of the water and broke their spinnaker pole."
Sailing just got tougher!!! New factor to consdier in the skill, talent, practice debate....
