Killer whales surround and attack Dutch yacht during ‘scary’ race incident

A 'scary' video has captured the moment a pod of killer whales attacked a Dutch yacht during an ocean race in Gibraltar.

Team JAJO were sailing in the Strait of Gibraltar as part of the 2023 Ocean Race on Thursday (June 22) when a group of orcas surrounded the Dutch crew’s yacht.

Video footage showed the beasts circling the boat before ramming into it. The sailors tried to scare them away by banging on the hull but that only antagonised the orcas, which made them bite the rudders.

READ MORE: Pod of 8 killer whales break rudder and try to sink boat in terrifying attack

Speaking about the incident to the Associated Press, Jelmer van Beek, Team JAJO skipper, said: "This was a scary moment. Three orcas came straight at us and started hitting the rudders.

"Impressive to see the orcas, beautiful animals, but also a dangerous moment for us as a team.

"We took down the sails and slowed down the boat as quickly as possible, and luckily after a few attacks, they went away."

Team JAJO was in second place of the VO65 class in the Ocean Race when the incident occurred but they dropped to fourth place after handling the orcas.

However, the group eventually made it back second by the end of the day and remains there now as the race enters the final leg.

The Ocean Race started in 1973, is a six-month yacht race that covers 32,000 nautical miles and goes through nine international cities.

This year the competition started in Alicante, Spain and will finish at the end of June in Genova, Italy.

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The news comes after a pod of eight orcas rammed a sailing boat in a horror attack.

Luis Eduardo Alves Lima, from Brazil, was sailing from Lisbon to Ibiza when he encountered the majestic black and white marine animals on June 4.

He first felt excited and called it a "beautiful moment" to sail with the pod. But soon he realised the killer whales had locked on to his yacht as a target.

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