Overall race leaders Team Telefónica face a tough first night at sea in almost a month after damaging a key sail in the first few hours of Leg 3 Stage 2.
Iker Martínez’s team were neck and neck with their rivals following the restart from Malé in the Maldives when a fitting on their code zero headsail failed forcing the crew into a scramble to retrieve the huge sail -- the largest in their inventory -- as it flogged dangerously behind the boat. Once on the deck the vast sail was quickly hauled below for sailmakers Jordi Calafat and Zane Gills to assess and begin to repair.
Telefónica are so far unbeaten in the offshore legs of the 2011-12 race and currently top the race leaderboard with 71 points – but the early setback dropped them into last place at 1300 UTC and could see them fighting to keep pace with the rest of the fleet until they are able to effect a repair.
“We broke the masthead (headsail) a bit,” reported helmsman Pablo Arrarte. “A piece of the tack broke. It flew away and broke the tensor (tensioning connector) down to the bowsprit.
“So, we have to repair it. We expect a long and hard day to repair it.”
After disappointing results in the Etihad Airways In-Port Race in Abu Dhabi and the Leg 3 Stage 1 sprint from Abu Dhabi to Sharjah, Martínez’s men were looking to come strong out of the blocks as the fleet head to the Chinese city of Sanya, more than 3,000 nautical miles away.
But instead they face a first night of hard work and little sleep as they try to repair the damaged code zero sail, crucial to light wind sailing.
“Let’s see if we can be back sailing as normal from tomorrow on,” Arrarte said.
From : VOR
Credit : D. Fructuso/Telefonica/VOR
Iker Martínez’s team were neck and neck with their rivals following the restart from Malé in the Maldives when a fitting on their code zero headsail failed forcing the crew into a scramble to retrieve the huge sail -- the largest in their inventory -- as it flogged dangerously behind the boat. Once on the deck the vast sail was quickly hauled below for sailmakers Jordi Calafat and Zane Gills to assess and begin to repair.
Telefónica are so far unbeaten in the offshore legs of the 2011-12 race and currently top the race leaderboard with 71 points – but the early setback dropped them into last place at 1300 UTC and could see them fighting to keep pace with the rest of the fleet until they are able to effect a repair.
“We broke the masthead (headsail) a bit,” reported helmsman Pablo Arrarte. “A piece of the tack broke. It flew away and broke the tensor (tensioning connector) down to the bowsprit.
“So, we have to repair it. We expect a long and hard day to repair it.”
After disappointing results in the Etihad Airways In-Port Race in Abu Dhabi and the Leg 3 Stage 1 sprint from Abu Dhabi to Sharjah, Martínez’s men were looking to come strong out of the blocks as the fleet head to the Chinese city of Sanya, more than 3,000 nautical miles away.
But instead they face a first night of hard work and little sleep as they try to repair the damaged code zero sail, crucial to light wind sailing.
“Let’s see if we can be back sailing as normal from tomorrow on,” Arrarte said.
From : VOR
