Water ingress forces diversion to Portugal

Translated 9 ITL (09) has retired from the McIntyre Ocean Globe Race with hull damage. The current IRC leader of Leg four has been forced to divert to Portugal after a heavy broach in 50 knot gusts slammed them down, reopening previously repaired cracks in their hull around the rudder skeg, causing water ingress. They are at present approx. 1000 nm SW of Portugal and making for land, with an ETA of 11th April.

At approx. 0530 hrs UTC 5th April, OGR race control received a text message from co-skipper Nico Malingri stating that the yacht’s previous rudder skeg repairs were failing with obvious signs of delamination with the original hull. They had reduced sail and were heading downwind to monitor the situation and assess options – The skipper then called via sat phone at approx. 1400 hrs UTC to report the complete failure of the previous repairs, resulting in water ingress and hull flexing. All pumps were ready and while not expected, all preparations to abandon ship were made and all sailing pressure taken off the boat. The weather was moderate 25-30K with 3-4-meter seas. The skipper did not request any assistance at that time.

Report on Translated 9’s previous delamination damage encountered during Leg 3:

The Italian Swan 65 left Punta del Este on March 5th en route to the finish in Cowes, UK having already sailed over 5000 nm in the final leg of the Ocean Globe round-the-world race. Formerly known as ADC Accutrac during the 1977 Whitbread, they’re currently first in IRC for leg four, first in Flyer Class and third in Line honours.

The situation was not considered a “Code Orange ” (to advise MRCC) by OGR and all is currently under control for now with a close watch being maintained. Satellite communications were opened onboard and the Translated 9 shore crew were alerted. They informed the next of kin and will provide future weather routing – OGR satellite tracking was upgraded to every hour.

During Leg 3 of the Ocean Globe Race, Auckland to Punta del Este, Translated 9 were forced to return to the Falkland Islands after two cracks developed in the stern sections of the yacht following broaches in strong winds. One crack appeared near the rudder skeg. It was deemed unsafe to continue racing to Punta del Este and the crew sailed to the Falkland Islands.

The yacht was lifted in the Falklands and extensive repair work was carried out on the hull with engineers flying in to assist. After a week of round-the-clock work, the stunning Swan set sail for Punta del Este arriving just 5 days before the start of Leg 4 on March 5th. Such was their determination to start with the other 12 yachts in the fleet the crew were still loading provisions onboard minutes before slipping lines for the final leg.

The OGR Notice of Race prohibits any outside assistance, so the Falklands stopover automatically disqualified Translated 9 from the Leg Three rankings. This also excluded them from IRC ranking for the race overall. Up to that point, the popular crew had excelled in the OGR, a race celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the first Whitbread Round The World Race. The Swan 65, skippered in 1977 by the first female Whitbread skipper Clare Francis, achieved first in IRC for Leg One and Two, and second in line honours for Leg One and first in Line honours for Leg Two.

The whole TRANSLATED 9 team is incredibly disappointed:

“Translated 9 did the impossible, after the hull damage in leg 3 we miraculously fixed it and restarted the race. From the 9th position we were back in first place. I am proud of our team, they have done more than anyone expected.

The boat broke, not the humans.”

Marco Trombetti, Translated 9 Co-Skipper who sailed on Leg 1 and Leg 3 and whose wife Isabelle is currently sailing onboard.

Translated 9’s retirement from Leg 4 will naturally have a dramatic effect on the leaderboard. The French legend Pen Duick VI FR (14), skippered by Marie Tabarly, is currently sitting in second in IRC for Leg 4, with another former Whitbread yacht L’Esprit d’équipe breathing down their stern just minutes behind.

In other news, Triana FR (66) continues to feel the pressure from Maiden UK (03) for overall IRC first place. Triana may still have a two-day lead but Maiden is gaining ground as Triana languishes behind trapped in lighter winds. The rest of the fleet continues to battle fickle winds and race north for the Royal Yacht Squadron finish line in Cowes.

And if Translated 9 has proved anything, you never know what can happen!

oceangloberace.com

by Ocean Globe Race