For Team Sanya and Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing it has turned into a logistics race rather than an ocean race after two of the six entries in the world’s toughest professional sailing test were forced to retire from Leg 1.
Team Sanya, led by New Zealand skipper Mike Sanderson, were forced to forfeit Leg 1 of the race after their yacht suffered hull damage just hours into the race. Prospects looked bleak for the race’s first sole Chinese entry – but after several days of detailed discussions and negotiations the team launched their action plan to make the start of the second leg from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi.
On Friday, Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing had to make a similar decision, forfeiting a possible 10 points from the leg and opting to ship their yacht Azzam to South Africa to make time for vital modifications to their mast and rigging.
Sanya’s Volvo Open 70 was lifted onto a Volvo truck yesterday and driven to the commercial port of Algeciras in Gibraltar. From there she is due to be loaded onto a Maersk Line container ship bound for Cape Town, scheduled to arrive on November 28th.
That plan gives the team the opportunity chance to get the hull repaired in time for the second in-port race on December 10 and the start of Leg 2 the following day. It will still take a herculean effort from teams of boat builders working around the clock but Sanya’s shore team manager David Duff is confident the task is now manageable.
The Team Sanya boat building team start work this week in Cape Town to ensure the new section of hull is ready for fitting when the race boat arrives into Cape Town.
Walker’s decision to retire from Leg 1 means the second stage of the operation will has now kicked into gear. The crew are heading to Lisbon and from there Azzam will be shipped to South Africa in time for Leg 2.
“We are now working with our corporate partner Maersk to get the Abu Dhabi team’s containers to Cape Town as quickly as possible,” said Seidel. “We also remain on standby to fly spare masts from our base in Amsterdam immediately to any part of the world where a competitor might need it.”
“If we don’t get to Cape Town a week before the start then we don’t actually solve anything and we would be having all the same doubts before heading off into the Indian Ocean,” said Walker.
“So very regrettably we’ve decided that we need to try and get back into control of our own destiny by shipping the boat to Cape Town and replacing the rigging so we can leave Cape Town at 100 percent.
“It’s the best chance of winning this race and the best chance of getting back amongst it.”
From : Volvo Ocean Race
Credit : Andres Soriano/Team Sanya/Volvo
Team Sanya, led by New Zealand skipper Mike Sanderson, were forced to forfeit Leg 1 of the race after their yacht suffered hull damage just hours into the race. Prospects looked bleak for the race’s first sole Chinese entry – but after several days of detailed discussions and negotiations the team launched their action plan to make the start of the second leg from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi.
On Friday, Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing had to make a similar decision, forfeiting a possible 10 points from the leg and opting to ship their yacht Azzam to South Africa to make time for vital modifications to their mast and rigging.
Sanya’s Volvo Open 70 was lifted onto a Volvo truck yesterday and driven to the commercial port of Algeciras in Gibraltar. From there she is due to be loaded onto a Maersk Line container ship bound for Cape Town, scheduled to arrive on November 28th.
That plan gives the team the opportunity chance to get the hull repaired in time for the second in-port race on December 10 and the start of Leg 2 the following day. It will still take a herculean effort from teams of boat builders working around the clock but Sanya’s shore team manager David Duff is confident the task is now manageable.
The Team Sanya boat building team start work this week in Cape Town to ensure the new section of hull is ready for fitting when the race boat arrives into Cape Town.
Walker’s decision to retire from Leg 1 means the second stage of the operation will has now kicked into gear. The crew are heading to Lisbon and from there Azzam will be shipped to South Africa in time for Leg 2.
“We are now working with our corporate partner Maersk to get the Abu Dhabi team’s containers to Cape Town as quickly as possible,” said Seidel. “We also remain on standby to fly spare masts from our base in Amsterdam immediately to any part of the world where a competitor might need it.”
“If we don’t get to Cape Town a week before the start then we don’t actually solve anything and we would be having all the same doubts before heading off into the Indian Ocean,” said Walker.
“So very regrettably we’ve decided that we need to try and get back into control of our own destiny by shipping the boat to Cape Town and replacing the rigging so we can leave Cape Town at 100 percent.
“It’s the best chance of winning this race and the best chance of getting back amongst it.”
From : Volvo Ocean Race
