Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s wounded Azzam arrived in Itajaí this morning on the deck of a cargo ship from Puerto Montt in Chile where the crew had to pull in after sustaining structural damage in the Southern Ocean.
The cargo vessel’s arrival in Brazil has triggered a round the clock operation by the shore crew to carry out repairs in time for the DHL In-Port Race Itajaí just two days away.
Skipper Ian Walker said he had been deeply impressed by the dedication of the shore crew when he arrived at the team base yesterday.
“You are talking about a three to five day repair that we are trying to do in two days, but to a man nobody has let their head drop," he said. "Everybody has swung into action to get the repair done.
“For the last 12 days our fate has been in the hands of other people waiting for the ship to arrive in Chile and then waiting for it to get here. We have done everything we can to get fully prepared for when the boat arrived."
Walker said the shore crew were facing their greatest challenge yet but believed they would pull it off as they have done more than once before in this race.
“This is a long race and you seem to get one challenge after another,” he said. “I have been very impressed by the shore crew’s spirit and the depth of their planning.
“We have got great guys in the team -- everyone is determined to make this happen, just keen to get into it, get us back in the race and give us a chance of winning the next leg.
“We need a bit of luck, everyone understands that and who is to say it won’t go our way?"
Once clear of customs, Azzam will be unloaded from the ship and motored the short distance to the Itajaí Race Village. Meanwhile, the shore crew have to break down the massive cradle on which the boat travelled and reassemble it in the race village.
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing CEO, Jamie Boag said he hoped to have the boat on dry land by 1400 local time so that work could start straight away.
“Then it is full steam ahead,” Boag said. “The repair team is about 18 people, split into 5 teams. We have some teams working on the major repair and some on the other must-do jobs that would prevent us from racing.”
Boag said the first job would be to cut out the damaged area and try to assess what had caused the damage. “When we expose the core we can work out whether we need to repair both sides or just one,” he explained.
“Either way we are going to have to work flat out to get this done but everyone is up for it and we could not have prepared any better.
“This is a great team of great people who just refuse to give up.”
The cargo vessel’s arrival in Brazil has triggered a round the clock operation by the shore crew to carry out repairs in time for the DHL In-Port Race Itajaí just two days away.
Skipper Ian Walker said he had been deeply impressed by the dedication of the shore crew when he arrived at the team base yesterday.
“You are talking about a three to five day repair that we are trying to do in two days, but to a man nobody has let their head drop," he said. "Everybody has swung into action to get the repair done.
“For the last 12 days our fate has been in the hands of other people waiting for the ship to arrive in Chile and then waiting for it to get here. We have done everything we can to get fully prepared for when the boat arrived."
Walker said the shore crew were facing their greatest challenge yet but believed they would pull it off as they have done more than once before in this race.
“This is a long race and you seem to get one challenge after another,” he said. “I have been very impressed by the shore crew’s spirit and the depth of their planning.
“We have got great guys in the team -- everyone is determined to make this happen, just keen to get into it, get us back in the race and give us a chance of winning the next leg.
“We need a bit of luck, everyone understands that and who is to say it won’t go our way?"
Once clear of customs, Azzam will be unloaded from the ship and motored the short distance to the Itajaí Race Village. Meanwhile, the shore crew have to break down the massive cradle on which the boat travelled and reassemble it in the race village.
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing CEO, Jamie Boag said he hoped to have the boat on dry land by 1400 local time so that work could start straight away.
“Then it is full steam ahead,” Boag said. “The repair team is about 18 people, split into 5 teams. We have some teams working on the major repair and some on the other must-do jobs that would prevent us from racing.”
Boag said the first job would be to cut out the damaged area and try to assess what had caused the damage. “When we expose the core we can work out whether we need to repair both sides or just one,” he explained.
“Either way we are going to have to work flat out to get this done but everyone is up for it and we could not have prepared any better.
“This is a great team of great people who just refuse to give up.”
