Strong Winds Smash Sail Boat Into Duluth Lift Bridge

click to expand

DULUTH, Minn. (WCCO) -- A sailboat racing event in Duluth, cancelled because of weather, could resume this week.

The strong winds that cancelled the event are also to blame for a sailboat crashing into the iconic Aerial Lift Bridge Wednesday.

Joaquin Figueroa shot video of the incident, which shows the boat being pushed into the bridge and its mast snapping right off. No one was hurt.

A longtime lift bridge supervisor says he remembers a boat being caught in the bridge years ago, but nothing to this extent.

"This is the only one that I've seen where we've actually snapped the mast and it went under the bridge," Dave Campbell said.

So why didn't they just raise the bridge. That takes time -- on average 30 to 45 seconds before it starts to go up.