Sea, Sail & Surf news
Volvo Ocean Race • leg 4
Team Delta Lloyd heads to Keelung in Taiwan
Sander Pluijm : "Due to the delamination, the hull is absorbing water"
mardi 27 janvier 2009 –
In 30-knots of breeze and big waves, David Pella from Spain discovered a crack in the bow bulkhead, which gives the hull its strength. The bow also showed some signs of delamination. A few hours earlier, the mainsail had been torn again. The combined factors resulted in the inevitable decision to take shelter. Team Delta Lloyd is currently 14 nm from Keelung City in the northeast of Taiwan and expects to arrive in approximately two hours time. The team has not officially suspended racing so far and will carryout further inspection to the boat once in Taiwan.
“We are very disappointed, as we really wanted to do well in this leg. But Chuny (skipper Roberto Bérmudez/ESP) did want not to take any risks in terms of the crew’s safety,” explained Media Crew Member Sander Pluijm/NED.
“At the time we discovered the damage, we were sailing under storm jib and with three reefs in the main. It would have been irresponsible to continue racing, especially with the cold Chinese weather coming up. We informed the coast guard and put the safety procedure into operation,” he said.
“Due to the delamination, the hull is absorbing water, which softens the bow which might break by wave slamming. That is the biggest risk now. The pumps are ready to use, so we won’t sink,” Pluijm added. The crew has closed the watertight bow compartment as a precaution.
Earlier today, Ericsson 3 (Magnus Olsson/SWE) experienced similar problems to Delta Lloyd and has already arrived safely in Keelung City and officially suspended racing from this leg.
Leg Four Day 10 : 1900 GMT Volvo Ocean Race Positions
1. Telefónica Blue ESP (Bouwe Bekking/NED) DTF 422 nm
2. Ericsson 4 SWE (Torben Grael/BRA) +27
3. PUMA Racing Team USA (Ken Read/USA) +30
4. Delta Lloyd NED/IRL (Roberto Bermudez/ESP) +250
5. Green Dragon IRL/CHN (Ian Walker/GBR) +289
Ericsson 3 SWE (Magnus Olsson/SWE) SUS
Telefónica Black ESP (Fernando Echávarri/ESP) DNF
Team Russia RUS (Andreas Hanakamp/AUT) DNS
Dans la même rubrique
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Volvo Ocean Race : Telefonica Blue wins close leg 3 finish in Singapour
Volvo Ocean Race : 70s leave Cochin for 1950 nm leg 3 to Singapore
Volvo Ocean Race • Leg 2 : Torben Grael’s crew first to join Cochin in India
