Another black day for the Vestas 11th Hour Racing team, which had just returned to the race for this seventh stage
The chain of dramatic events in the Volvo Ocean Race does not end: After the fatal accident of John Fisher last Monday and survival mode in the Southern Ocean, the fleet of the front six boats had just passed Cape Horn on Thursday. The next bad news will follow on Friday: The Vestas 11th Hour Racing team reports a broken mast! The accident occurred about 100 nautical miles southeast of the Falkland Islands. The crew remained uninjured and, according to the organizer, is safe. The mast broke over the first spreader and has already been cut away by the crew to prevent further damage to the hull.
Skipper without fortune: Charlie Enright's campaign has to give up another stage after the mast breaks
When the mast broke, the blue boat of the Vestas 11th Hour Racing team was sailing in northerly winds between 25 and 30 knots and waves about three meters high. After the serious collision with a fishing boat off Hong Kong, in which one of the fishermen was killed shortly before the end of the fourth stage, the team had only just returned to the race for this seventh stage with renewed strength. Thorough investigations in the next port can only reveal whether the broken mast is possibly a long-term consequence of the collision.
Repaired and re-motivated: In Auckland, the Vestas 11th Hour Racing team returned to the 13th edition of the Volvo Ocean Race after missing two stages as a result of the fatal collision with a fishing boat off Hong Kong. Now the next knockout blow followed
The crew will approach the Falkland Islands under their own power under motor and examine the damage there and decide on the next steps. The main thing is to find a solution how the boat can be brought to the Brazilian port of Itajaí as quickly as possible. The crew does not assume that they will need any assistance from the other teams in the Volvo Ocean Race or the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC).