Volvo Ocean Race 2014/15 - Leg2 - Kapstadt - Abu Dhabi

Fotogalerie Leg 2>
December 1, 2014
‘A picture to paint a 1,000 words’

ALICANTE, Spain, December 1 – This graphic picture (below) shows the stricken Team Vestas Wind lying in a reef in a remote Mauritius archipelago of St Brandon after being grounded there at the weekend.

The team and race organisers are now working out the best way to recover the Volvo Ocean 65 in the Indian Ocean.

Neil Cox, shore manager of the Danish team, said: “The photo paints a pretty graphic picture of what’s going on out there. The picture tells a 1,000 words.”

He said his focus was still the security of the nine members of the crew. “We have still got nine guys sitting on what is basically a sand pit out in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
“They are still the priority. It’s a peace of mind to know they’re all safe and doing everything they can out there with the boat right now.”

Cox said that sail ropes, fluids, electronics and hardware had been taken off the boat.

The nine-strong crew abandoned ship in the early hours of Sunday morning after the collision at 19 knots at 1510 GMT the previous day and waded through knee-deep water to a dry position on the reef.

They were picked up from there at daylight by a coastguard rib and taken to the nearby Íle du Sud.

The islet has very little communications with the outside world and the crew are awaiting transportation back to Mauritius. This is expected to happen within the next 24 hours.

The National Coast Guard of the Maritime Rescue Co-operation Centre (MRCC) of Mauritius took the pictures as part of its usual operations after such an incident.

The crew have received food packages via an airdrop from a coastguard plane. It confirmed that all were uninjured in the collision.

Download Videos & Images NCG Operations Room – MRCC Mauritius Download
Carmen Hidalgo - Picture desk and Photography Manager images@volvooceanrace.com Broadcast For video inquiries, please contact: television@volvooceanrace.com Please visit: www.volvooceanrace.com/broadcastroom For any assistance please contact: Sonia.Ngoyi@thenewsmarket.com Official Youtube channel - videos available for embed www.youtube.com/volvooceanracevideos Editors' Notes: The Volvo Ocean Race This edition of the Volvo Ocean Race is the 12th running of the 40-year-old event, which started in 1973 as the Whitbread Round the World Race. The race started on October 4, 2014, day of the first In-Port Race in Alicante, Spain, and will finish with one last In-Port Race on June 27, 2015 in Gothenburg, the Swedish home of Volvo. The 38,739-nautical mile route will include stopovers in Cape Town (South Africa), Abu Dhabi (UAE), Sanya (China), Auckland (New Zealand), Itajaí (Brazil), Newport (Rhode Island, US), Lisbon (Portugal) and Lorient (France). A 24-hour pit-stop in The Hague is scheduled between France and Sweden. This and the next edition will be contested in a new high-performance boat, the Volvo Ocean 65, designed by Farr Yacht Design in the United States and built by a consortium of boatyards in the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Switzerland. The new 65-foot (19.8-metre) monohull racing yachts will be strictly one-design and delivered “ready to sail”. The boats incorporate the latest video, satellite and content production facilities to further enhance the Onboard Reporter programme that has been in place since 2008-09. Seven teams have been announced for the 12th edition. The all-female Team SCA are the first all-women's team to compete in the race since 2001-02. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing are once again skippered by Britain's twice Olympic silver medallist Ian Walker. Dongfeng Race Team come from China and are backed by Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle. Team Brunel from the Netherlands are skippered by race veteran Bouwe Bekking. Team Alvimedica with a double flag (Turkey/USA) will be headed by Rhode Island's Charlie Enright. A Spanish team was announced in June and is backed by insurance giant MAPFRE. Denmark's Team Vestas was the final boat to be announced in August. Chris Nicholson will be skipper. The previous Volvo Ocean Race started in October 2011 in Alicante and was won by Groupama sailing team, skippered by Frenchman Franck Cammas, in July 2012. Volvo Ocean Race S.L.U. Registered Office: Muelle N° 10 de Levante, Puerto de Alicante, 03001 Alicante, Spain. Registered in Spain No.: B54460910. This email and any files transmitted are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed. If you have received this email in error, please notify webmaster@volvooceanrace.com. This message was intended for: redaktion@segel.de If you wish to unsubscribe, please click here.