A woman suffered a severe head injury Wednesday afternoon when the mast on the trimaran she was sailing broke and struck her in the head off Portland Harbor.

Portland Harbor Master Kevin Battle said three people were aboard the Triceratops – a watercraft with a main hull and two outrigger hulls – and it was under sail when the mast snapped near its base and struck the woman. The Triceratops berths at South Port Marine in South Portland.

“It looked like the mast snapped at the base,” Battle said. He attributed the accident to high winds and the mast’s age.

The accident took place around 1:45 p.m. between House Island, Little Diamond Island and Fort Gorges.

Battle said another boater stopped and helped the trimaran’s crew load the victim onto their boat, which then took her to the nearby Oliver Hazard Perry, a tall ship used as a civilian sailing school. The Oliver Hazard Perry spent last weekend in Portland offering public tours.

Battle said the Portland fireboat went to the Oliver Hazard Perry, which was anchored off House Island, and treated the woman’s head injury.

“It was a severe head injury. They were having trouble stopping the bleeding,” Battle said.

After emergency medical technicians treated her wounds, the fireboat transported the woman to Maine Medical Center in Portland. Her name and her condition were unavailable Wednesday.

Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:

dhoey@pressherald.com

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