BREAKING NEWS: Significant damage onboard Dongfeng Onboard Dongfeng just after 1800 UTC, part of the sheeting system (control lines) for the masthead gennaker (big sail at the front) broke and the high loads held in that line were released across the leeward deck causing significant damage. There were no injuries to the crew at all despite the damage to deck equipment, and the determined men of Dongfeng set about immediately to rig a backup solution and get back to full speed. The team lost about 5 miles during the half an hour or so it took to get the sail under control, assess the damage and get going again, during which time their speed dropped to around 12 knots rather than the 22 knots the fleet have been powering along at (an average speed, so peak speeds much higher). The rest of the night whilst wet, cold and fast, passed well for our guys, and they have maintained second place this morning just 8 miles from Abu Dhabi at sunrise this morning having retaken a few of the miles lost. The leading trio are steaming along at an average of over 25 knots - hammer down in 25 to 30 knots of cold Southern Ocean wind (it tends to be denser than the normal stuff too!) with over 800 miles still to run. The strong wind is not expected to hold but for now the boats are charging towards the dream of hot showers, warm beds and stable ground under their feet! The damage to the boat includes the broken wheel (will be a handicap for Dongfeng when on the other gybe as they would use this broken wheel - difficult to use the other wheel as you can’t see the right part of the sails when you steer - a reason for there being two wheels one on each side), pushpit (the protective bars at back of the boat), aft stanchions (the posts on the side of the boat at the back) above the deck level so no damage to deck itself, and a satcom C antenna - the boat is loaded with communication kit so this one is manageable. Yesterday, the team sent a message from the boat saying how happy with the shore team’s work they were and that they hoped to bring the boat in to Cape Town in good shape…ah, the shore team work list just got a whole lot longer on was going to be a very fast pace and hard work pitstop in South Africa already.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 08:38:52 +0000
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