Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing pulled off a heroic repair operation in the depths of the Southern Ocean after discovering delamination in their hull.
Skipper Ian Walker supervised an incredible five-hour job that saw 30 bolts screwed through the hull of Abu Dhabi’s boat Azzam (which means 'determination' in Arabic) to prevent further damage.
In order to carry out the repair, the crew had to slow the boat to a standstill and tilt it onto its side in heavy weather so bowman Justin Slattery, lowered overboard secured to a rope and in full safety gear, could tighten the bolts on the outside of the hull.
Inside the hull, boat captain Wade Morgan and watch leader Craig Satterthwaite braced the damaged section with parts ripped from the boats bunks, stacking system and lockers.
“We’ve basically joined the skins back together with a mechanical fixing,” Walker said.
“At the moment it’s been much improved, we’ve got much less noise and it seems fairly strong.
“We’re still taking it quite easy right now.”
The damage was discovered in darkness, so the crew waited for daylight to effect repairs.
Walker praised the work of his crew, who carried out the repair in 30-knot winds and big seas, around 1,700 miles from land.
“Like always, these things bring the best out in the team and everybody played a role,” he added.
“Rob Greenhalgh ran everything on deck keeping everything steady.
“Wade and Craig oversaw the repairs down below and Justin Slattery was the man over the side on the halyard tightening the bolts.
“Everyone else was helping, there was a lot of stuff going on.”
Walker said he was in talks with his team about how to progress, and that all options were open.
“Right now we’re sailing with two people on deck, everyone else is down below resting.”
Telefonica to round Cape Horn in 24 hours and a quick stop to repair
“The rounding of this cape is a very important point, and once you're past it the possibilities of actually finishing the round the world regatta increase considerably, with the South Indian and South Pacific Oceans astern and lots of points in play up ahead”, reflected Martínez. “We are going to fight with all of our might for this round the world regatta, whatever happens, and if someone does beat us, they'll have to suffer to get there”
At 90 %: 435 miles in 24 hours
“The boat is in more or less the same shape it was when we suffered the damage first time around, so the reinforcements made have worked well”, wrote skipper Iker Martínez last night. “Even so, we're still pushing forward at 85-90%. We're afraid to push any harder and risk being struck by disaster”.
"We are now near Cape Horn. We have decided to make a quick stop at Cape Horn to reinforce the damaged section of the hull and to get back in the race as quickly as we can.
The rules state that if you stop it must be for a minimum period of 12 hours, so we'll try to get it all done within that time frame. First we'll check if the outside of the hull is still intact. If it is, which I hope it is, we'll position ourselves so we're shielded, just behind the island of Cape Horn, to be able to work comfortably.
The rules also state that if you pay the 12 hour penalty you are entitled to external assistance, so our technical director Horacio and the shore crew will be giving us a hand with repairs.
If all goes well, we'll try to carry out the repairs without stopping off on land to avoid the stretch up to Ushuaia, which would mean another 100 extra miles. Horacio's sailing from Port Williams now in a 50-foot steel sailboat which will bring them to the cape. We'll meet there to take shelter so that we can make the reinforcements to the area of the bow that's been affected.
It's a shame that we have to stop, because even with the obstacles we've had, the boats in front are only 15-18 hours away, but since we don't know exactly what we're up against further ahead we've preferred to reinforce the damaged area and so get back to racing pace as soon as we can.
Once we've finished the repairs we'll be aiming to get back to full speed. “Puma” and “Groupama” may not push forward so much over the next few hours but their lead might be just too much for us to catch them before we get to Itajaí."
From : Volvo Ocean Race and Telefonica
Credit : N.Dana/Abu Dhabi/VOR
Skipper Ian Walker supervised an incredible five-hour job that saw 30 bolts screwed through the hull of Abu Dhabi’s boat Azzam (which means 'determination' in Arabic) to prevent further damage.
In order to carry out the repair, the crew had to slow the boat to a standstill and tilt it onto its side in heavy weather so bowman Justin Slattery, lowered overboard secured to a rope and in full safety gear, could tighten the bolts on the outside of the hull.
Inside the hull, boat captain Wade Morgan and watch leader Craig Satterthwaite braced the damaged section with parts ripped from the boats bunks, stacking system and lockers.
“We’ve basically joined the skins back together with a mechanical fixing,” Walker said.
“At the moment it’s been much improved, we’ve got much less noise and it seems fairly strong.
“We’re still taking it quite easy right now.”
The damage was discovered in darkness, so the crew waited for daylight to effect repairs.
Walker praised the work of his crew, who carried out the repair in 30-knot winds and big seas, around 1,700 miles from land.
“Like always, these things bring the best out in the team and everybody played a role,” he added.
“Rob Greenhalgh ran everything on deck keeping everything steady.
“Wade and Craig oversaw the repairs down below and Justin Slattery was the man over the side on the halyard tightening the bolts.
“Everyone else was helping, there was a lot of stuff going on.”
Walker said he was in talks with his team about how to progress, and that all options were open.
“Right now we’re sailing with two people on deck, everyone else is down below resting.”
Telefonica to round Cape Horn in 24 hours and a quick stop to repair
“The rounding of this cape is a very important point, and once you're past it the possibilities of actually finishing the round the world regatta increase considerably, with the South Indian and South Pacific Oceans astern and lots of points in play up ahead”, reflected Martínez. “We are going to fight with all of our might for this round the world regatta, whatever happens, and if someone does beat us, they'll have to suffer to get there”
At 90 %: 435 miles in 24 hours
“The boat is in more or less the same shape it was when we suffered the damage first time around, so the reinforcements made have worked well”, wrote skipper Iker Martínez last night. “Even so, we're still pushing forward at 85-90%. We're afraid to push any harder and risk being struck by disaster”.
"We are now near Cape Horn. We have decided to make a quick stop at Cape Horn to reinforce the damaged section of the hull and to get back in the race as quickly as we can.
The rules state that if you stop it must be for a minimum period of 12 hours, so we'll try to get it all done within that time frame. First we'll check if the outside of the hull is still intact. If it is, which I hope it is, we'll position ourselves so we're shielded, just behind the island of Cape Horn, to be able to work comfortably.
The rules also state that if you pay the 12 hour penalty you are entitled to external assistance, so our technical director Horacio and the shore crew will be giving us a hand with repairs.
If all goes well, we'll try to carry out the repairs without stopping off on land to avoid the stretch up to Ushuaia, which would mean another 100 extra miles. Horacio's sailing from Port Williams now in a 50-foot steel sailboat which will bring them to the cape. We'll meet there to take shelter so that we can make the reinforcements to the area of the bow that's been affected.
It's a shame that we have to stop, because even with the obstacles we've had, the boats in front are only 15-18 hours away, but since we don't know exactly what we're up against further ahead we've preferred to reinforce the damaged area and so get back to racing pace as soon as we can.
Once we've finished the repairs we'll be aiming to get back to full speed. “Puma” and “Groupama” may not push forward so much over the next few hours but their lead might be just too much for us to catch them before we get to Itajaí."
From : Volvo Ocean Race and Telefonica
