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| Azzam's broken mast lies in pieces on the deck as they motor back. Paul Todd/Volvo Ocean Race |
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing came back into Alicante under engine after the mast on the team’s racing yacht Azzam had broken in five-metre waves and 30 knots of wind the previous night, just six hours and 85 nautical miles from the start of Leg 1, a 6,500-nm haul to Cape Town.
While Ian Walker’s team were on their way back to the start port, rivals Team Sanya were reporting damage to their hull while sailing upwind in 35-38 knots.
Wind blowing
The boat was about 30nm south-east of Motril, on the coast of Spain. The wind was blowing 43 knots and the waves were around 10.5 metres, the team reported.
They suspended racing and made their way to the port of Motril to assess the damage. Sanya bowman Andy Meiklejohn injured his foot during a sail change and once ashore sought medical advice. Doctors confirmed his foot was broken.
In a graphic demonstration of the problems all the boats were facing, an interview filmed on board CAMPER with Roberto “Chuny” Bermúdez resulted in the Spaniard being blown to the ground and slammed across deck.
Knocked off feet
“The Mediterranean sometimes gets like this… but the boat is going fine,” the video shows him saying to camera, just as he is knocked off his feet. Unscathed, he continues the interview below deck.
Abu Dhabi had left Alicante at the top of the leaderboard having won the opening in-port race and they were challenging for the lead in leg one when disaster struck at 1915 UTC on Saturday, about 30 miles southwest of Cartagena.
The crew recovered the rig and came back to Alicante before launching into a round-the-clock repair effort. The replacement mast arrived in Alicante at around 1400 UTC.
Full of emotion
“I think it is too early to start making judgements but certainly we believe we can [win the race],” said Walker, his voice full of emotion.
“We have put so much work into this project – everybody, and you just don’t… don’t want to let anyone down. When you have worked so hard every day for 18 months you are desperate to do well. We still are desperate to do well – the race isn’t lost.”
Describing the moments leading up to the loss of the mast, Walker said his “heart was in his mouth” as Azzam leapt off the back of a steep wave at around 12 knots before crashing back down.
Big wave
“I was steering and we just came off a big wave,” he said. “I know it’s a big wave when my feet leave the ground. You always have your heart in your mouth when that happens.
“When we landed the mast just kept going. We immediately numbered off, which is our safety drill to make sure we haven’t lost anyone over the side. Then we set about trying to retrieve whatever we could.”
Mike Sanderson, skipper of Team Sanya, the first sole Chinese entry in the race, also promised to bounce back from the setback in a message from the boat written while they were an hour away from port.
All safe
“Right now we have no idea how major the damage is,” Sanderson said. “We are all safe though.
“The guys are doing a fantastic job, all very positive and working incredibly hard even though you can see the bitter disappointment on all their faces.
“Be under no illusion though, we will be back with vengeance.”
Cause unknown
Sanderson and the team were still assessing the damage to Sanya, the only one of the six boats that is not brand new, in Motril on Sunday. It was not immediately clear what had caused the incident.
“We are fighters and our goal remains to take some scalps and get ourselves on the podium a couple of times and get in everyone’s way and see how many points we can earn,” said Sanderson. “We can do that – there’s no doubt about it.”
Mark Covell
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