Team Vestas Wind kan nu satsa på att bygga en helt ny båt för nästa etapp av Volvo Ocean Race. Teamet undersöker möjligheterna att komma tillbaka med ett nybygge en vecka efter att deras båt havererade efter att ha gått på grund och slagits sönderi Indiska Oceanen.
Besättningen är i säkerhet, men hann ta med sig mycket av den utrustning som fanns ombord i den förstörda båten. Vraket står kvar på Cargados Carajos Shoals (St Brandon), cirka 260 Nm nordost om Mauritius.
– Det är Vestas tydliga ambition att få Team Vestas Wind ut och segla igen i tävlingen, säger segelteamets vd, Morten Albæk. Vi kommer att göra allt som står i vår makt för att det ska bli verklighet.
– Alla delar av vår båt kan tyvärr inte repareras och därför är en av möjligheterna som vi undersöker att bygga en helt ny båt. Vi vet dock inte om vi hinner med detta i tid för att Team Vestas Wind ska kunna återuppta tävlingen. Vi jobbar dock i samarbete med Volvo Ocean Race för att undersöka alla möjligheter.
Skepparen Chris Nicholson (AUS), som ledde besättningens evakuering av båten 29 november. Därefter tog de sig iland på den avlägsna ön Íle du Sud, där de stannade i 48 timmar innan de kunde ta sig till Mauritius med en fiskebåt.
Här är en del av uttalandena från Chris Nicholson med flera på Vestas Winds presskonferens igår:
“Prior to the crash in the preceding 48 hours, Wouter and I in regard to our normal duties of looking where the boat was going with the routing, noticed that there would be some seamounts. When I saw those I asked what the depths and the currents and the wave conditions would be.
“Wouter’s reply was that the depths went from 3000m to 40m, (which) were the extremes of the depths, the current was negligible and we would monitor the wave state as we approached…”
Team Vestas Wind navigator Wouter Verbraak (NED) explained the reason for the accident to the media:
“In hindsight we would’ve continued to zoom in on the area much more, on the electronic charts. Not doing so is the big mistake that I made, but the good thing is that we didn’t make any more.”
The incident happened around the midway point of the 5,200 nautical mile Leg 2 from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi of the nine-month round-the-world race which finishes in Gothenburg, Sweden, on June 27 next year.
Debriefed
It is Australian Nicholson’s fifth Volvo Ocean Race, and he and the rest of the crew have been debriefed by team and race officials over the weekend in Abu Dhabi and will shortly return home to their individual countries.
Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad explained that, for the damaged boat, the recovery operation is still ongoing, and the parties involved are working together to bring about a swift resolution.
“We’re all making our absolute best efforts to do what is right. We have a very clear mission on this and that is to make sure that the absolute minimum impact is done to the environment.
“The plan is to remove the boat, either in its current form, or in a different form. We’re working on this right now, trying to make it happen as quickly as possible.
“Our next objective is to learn from this, and support Vestas, Powerhouse, and the team in their efforts to have a future in the race.
“I must underline that that is no small challenge. I don’t want anyone to have expectations that this will easily happen; it’s an enormous challenge.
“But the Volvo Ocean Race is all about enormous challenges – and here is another one.”
Patrick Lammers, a member of retail board RWE, said on behalf of sub-sponsors Powerhouse: “We are seeking opportunities to return to the race as soon as possible. In what form, and when, is impossible to say at this time, but all options are seriously considered.”
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