Boats out of Volvo Ocean Race

ABN AMRO ONE wiped out their leeward steering wheel, the steering pedestal and the safety frame that goes around the wheel in a massive broach. The crew continued sailing with an emergency tiller, bailing out the hole in the deck where the steering pedestal once was. More recently ABM AMRO ONE had a fire on board when a bolt dropped into the battery box and lodged between a battery terminal and the carbon fibre structure. The fire was controlled and the damaged areas rewired.

Only twelve hours into the race, movistar, skippered by Bouwe Bekking, leapt over a wave and slammed back down, possibly hitting a submerged object. The bottom few feet of the port dagger board and part of the single rudder sheared off and there is also damage to the keel. movistar is docked at Portimao in Portugal and a decision has to be made on doing repairs locally or shipping the boat to Cape Town.

Pirates of the Caribbean skippered by Paul Cayard are in Cascais, Portugal, and are evaluating the situation before deciding on returning to Leg One should the repairs be quickly feasible, or shipping the boat to Cape Town. When the boat was sailing at 30 knots, the lid on the fish tank (the coffer dam around the keel pivot) was being pushed up by the water pressure, causing the water to come out. It stopped when the boat slowed down.

Australian Grant Wharington and his Premier Challenge syndicate secured last minute funding from a Dutch solar-cell technology company. They just made the start on the newly named Brunel Sunergy after clearing final measurement the day before. They had a pit stop in Madeira to repair their gooseneck.

Fourteen Australians are crewing in the first leg from Vigo, Spain to Cape Town, South Africa. The only boat without an Aussie crew member is ABN AMRO ONE. Eighteen Kiwis are sailing; at least one on every boat.

Brasil 1, Ericsson, ABN AMRO ONE and ABN AMRO TWO are well ahead of Brunel Sunergy.

Official website: http://www.volvooceanrace.org