A Kiwi sailor is in jail in San Francisco after a protest against the America's Cup ended violently at sea.
David John McCormick, 47, was charged with assault on a federal officer, failure to heave to and making false distress calls.
The drama unfolded last Sunday morning when the United States Coastguard responded to a distress call from McCormick who claimed to have lost his best friend Spot overboard.
Sausalito Yacht Club member Jeff Zarwell said McCormick had deliberately left the oars from his dinghy on the pier and paddled by hand out a fair distance to his wooden yacht.
"He'd said something about an America's Cup protest - and soon after boarding his boat started throwing about five of his own sail bags overboard," Zarwell said.