If you’ve seen the TV series “Whale Wars,” you know all about the Sea Shepherds, those activists who try to obstruct Japanese whalers, to the chagrin of whale eaters and Greenpeace alike. The group just lost a very expensive carbon fiber and Kevlar speedboat in the craft’s maiden confrontation with a Japanese whaling vessel.

The Sea Shepherds and the Japanese are blaming each other for the sinking, but anyone with real sea legs would instantly recognize the culprit: The Shepherds renamed the speedboat from Earthrace to Ady Gil. Every sailor knows it’s the worst kind of bad luck to rename a vessel. — PZS

Update: Video of the encounter

AFP via Yahoo:

The wave-piercing, carbon-and-kevlar Ady Gil, bankrolled by a Hollywood businessman, was one of the world’s most celebrated vessels. In 2008, under its former name Earthrace, it smashed the world circumnavigation record by two weeks.

“This is a substantial loss for our organisation,” said Watson. “The Ady Gil, the former Earthrace, represents a loss of almost two million dollars.

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