A group of young sailors recounted the fear that set in when a killer whale began ramming their yacht. They managed to fend off the massive creature using vinegar.

The women, aged 20 and hailing from Norway, were aboard the sailboat Nova Vida as they navigated near Lisbon, Portugal, on their journey to Sines, a fishing town, when the whale attacked on September 13.

In disturbing footage shared with the Daily Mail, the yacht can be seen jolting wildly with its steering wheels spinning uncontrollably due to the orca repeatedly hitting the hull.

Elise Wurschmidt, who was on a day excursion with two companions and their captain, explained, “We turned on the engine, and a few moments later, the steering wheel started spinning out of control.”

‘We figured something might be wrong and then on the side of the boat we could just see a huge orca.’

When the whale hit the rudder underneath the boat, the steering mechanism snapped completely in two.

‘When that broke, the rudder was completely stuck,’ Elise says. ‘We couldn’t use the emergency rudder and we couldn’t use the steering wheel at all.’

With the wheel locked into position, the young sailors could only go around in circles as the orcas continued to crash against the hull.

Despite the tense situation, Elise noted that the crew appeared remarkably composed in the video from the cockpit as they sought a solution. They resorted to unconventional methods to repel the six-meter whales.

Elise and her four friends, all 20, have read much about orcas in preparation to circumnavigate the world together. 

Over the last month, they have documented their trials and learnings with a dedicated audience on Instagram.

They met through A+ World Academy, a student exchange on a sailboat ‘where you travel around for a year and you have school at sea and you learn to sail’. 

But nothing could have prepared them for this. In the moment, they reasoned that running the engine and banging on the rudder might scare off the attacking whales.

It was also the folk stories of old sailors that brought them comfort in their time of need.

Elise had heard tales of crew fending off killer whales with sand and vinegar. It might not be backed up by science, she says, but it was anything not to feel helpless.

Running the engine and pouring vinegar into the sea – ‘the cheapest one from Carrefour’, they say – they hoped for the whales to leave them alone.

‘We really don’t think that the vinegar did anything,’ Elise stressed. ‘But we just poured because it’s better than to feel helpless in the situation. 

‘We do think that reversing the engine did have an effect because when you back up the rudder, the propeller sucks instead of blowing out, so maybe the whale doesn’t like that.’

People have since said they should have shot the whales with flares or underwater guns. But the compassionate young crew cared for the animals’ welfare.

‘We don’t want to hurt the orcas,’ she insisted. 

It was the size of the whales that struck Elise. Earlier that week, in the Bay of Biscay, they had seen dolphins swimming nearby.

‘And every time we saw dolphins, we were scared that it actually might be orcas,’ she said.

‘But when we saw the orca, we were quite surprised by the width and length of it. It was quite huge … It’s no wonder they actually sink boats, because they’re huge animals.’

The crew were witness to the sinking of the Oceanview tourist boat, some 500 metres away.

As they tried to steady their sailboat against one, maybe two six-metre orcas, the Oceanview was being attacked by ‘five or six’.

‘I think that feels quite different with so many orcas attacking at once instead of just one or two,’ Elise said. ‘And I can’t imagine losing your boat or the fact that your boat actually sinks.’

The group could only watch as the Oceanview sank. The crew of five were rescued and fine, they say, but it was a shock to watch the boat nearby disappear beneath the waves.

‘We called them on the emergency radio and we heard that the coast guard couldn’t come to us because the other boat was taking in so much water that they need to be prioritised.

‘So we were just paying attention to the other boat and trying to fix our steering mechanism. 

‘Shortly after, maybe around 10-15 minutes, the other boat, we were trying to find it, but we could only see the mast standing up from the water, so it had completely sunken.’

The tourists on board the Oceanview were rescued. Elise says the captain spoke to the other boat and heard it was a few tourists who had rented the Oceanview, and that they were fine. The owner sounded okay.

‘He didn’t really have an emotional affection towards the boat,’ she relayed.

In the end, the crew of the Nova Vida were able to install their emergency rudder and pry it enough to get them the 10 nautical miles back to Cascais, to the north.

It was two or three hours before they could start using the steering wheel normally again, or the emergency one.

A RIB from the coast guard followed along to offer support.

The Nova Vida will need a few weeks of repairs before it is ready to set sail again, but it has not deterred the crew from their quest to travel the world together.

The group set off in August from Norway and were almost immediately buffeted when their boat, Fatuhiva, struck a sand dune near Kiel, Germany.

It was while they awaited repairs that a thoughtful group of boys on the Nova Vida asked if they wanted to join them for a sail over the Bay of Biscay in the meantime.

Soon enough, they hope, the boats will be up and running again, in time for their next adventure across the Atlantic.