After the dramatic crash at the start of the Ocean Race Europe in Kiel, the teams involved are struggling to make a comeback. While the official clarification of the question of guilt Collision between the Holcim-PRB (Switzerland) and Allagrande Mapei Racing (Italy) teams remains open until the protest hearing before the International Jury, which has still not been scheduled, Boris Herrmann told YACHT online on Monday about his suspicions regarding the course of the accident.
Ocean Race Europe: "a difficult situation"
The "Malizia - Seaexplorer" skipper has now also been at sea. Videos of the collision which occurred less than two minutes after take-off on Sunday afternoon. Herrmann said on Monday: "Everything is fine on board. To me, the crash on the video looks as if Mapei came from behind at super high speed and basically crashed into Holcim."
Herrmann's assumption: "On Holcim, I could see that the keel was tilted to leeward. That can happen when you want to reduce the keel angle when accelerating so that there is no 'wheelie'. Perhaps someone forgot to press stop again after giving the order to tilt the keel to the right. It's a difficult situation. We hope, of course, that they will get back into the race. We are also sending spare parts from France. I think there are also people helping."
The teams affected by the crash can use all the help they can get, as time is running out in the fight for a comeback for leg two. The second of the five Ocean Race Europe legs starts on 17 August in Portsmouth. The starting signal will be given at 4.55 pm local time (5.55 pm German time).
Deadline: the second stage begins on 17 August
In both cases, the repairs to the Imocas in the Ocean Race Europe will take several days. If successful, the boats will then have to be brought to Portsmouth on the shortest course of around 500 nautical miles via the Kiel Canal in order to arrive at the starting line in time for the start of the second leg.
The most visible damage immediately after the crash was the holes in the side of "Holcim-PRB", which was skippered by Rosalin Kuiper and steered by Frenchman Franck Cammas at the start. The green and blue boat was brought to the Knierim Yachtbau shipyard in Kiel for repairs with the help of a pilot just a few hours after the accident in Strander Bucht on Sunday evening.
Working hard in shifts at Knierim Yachtbau
More than two dozen people from the Holcim-PRB team and up to seven Knierim employees are working on the Imoca in several teams in shifts. According to the shipyard, intensive progress is being made. Preparatory work has already been completed. It is expected to be clearer by Tuesday night how much time the repair process will take.
In the meantime, the "Allagrande Mapei", skippered and steered by Ambrogio Beccaria, was also supposed to be transferred to Knierim Yachtbau, but according to the latest information, it will not be there. However, the pontoon, where the Italians were still moored on Monday, will be dismantled and taken away on Tuesday. In the meantime, the Italian team has also lodged a protest about the collision. The Italians did not provide any further details about their repairs and plans until Monday evening.
Ocean Race Europe: "the most difficult moment"
Ambrogio Beccaria and his team were caught up in their own thoughts of worst-case scenarios during the crash. The Milanese skipper had said before the start of the race in Kiel: "The start is the most difficult moment of a race. The start is very stressful. You think about the scenarios, what can happen. The mistakes you can make." Whether the mistakes in the crash with "Holcim-PRB" were the fault of his crew alone remains to be seen in the pending protest hearing.
Both teams released an announced statement late on Monday afternoon, which did not go into detail about the next steps. It reads:
"Following the incident at the start of the Ocean Race Europe in Kiel on 10 August, Team Holcim-PRB and Allagrande Mapei Racing remain fully focused on assessing the damage to their boats at the Knierim Yachtbau shipyard and the Race Village in Kiel respectively. Both teams would like to thank all their inspiring team members who have shown resilience, outstanding teamwork and great commitment.
Both the Holcim-PRB team and Allagrande Mapei Racing have lodged formal protests. These cases will be investigated and assessed by an international jury at a date to be determined. We will continue to keep you updated as soon as we have further news. The most important thing is that both crews are safe and uninjured. A big thank you to all the other teams who have offered their help to our two teams!"
"You don't want to turn back when you've just started a race," said Rosalin Kuiper after the crash. Ambrogio Beccaria called the collision "a sad moment". The unfortunate moment and the reactions afterwards:
