"Kazzam", the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing boat, left Alicante on Wednesday evening after mast replacement and other minor repairs to return to the position of the mast break, from where the boat will continue the race.
Because the others were parked out in the Atlantic for a while, Abu Dhabi is "only" about 750 miles behind the field. After final ultrasound tests on the replacement mast, skipper Ian Walker is optimistic. "I have 100 per cent confidence in this mast and rig, which already have 6,000 nautical miles behind them."
The situation is completely different for Team Sanya. The Chinese trailers their battered ship to Gibraltar, from where it will be transported to Cape Town by freighter on Friday. The carbon fibre doctor is waiting there at the end of November to cut out the damaged hull laminate and completely rebuild it. This normally takes two to three weeks, but Team Sanya is hoping to complete this mega-job in one so that they can be at the start of the second leg.
Meanwhile, the four competitors still in the race continue to fight their way towards Madeira. Back in the lead again is Groupama with Franck Cammas, who has been pushing hard on his easterly route and is now just ahead of Telefonica and Puma. The crew of Camper, who started in the east but sailed too early to the west in search of wind, has fallen behind and is now 80 miles behind (report from 9 November, 8 p.m.).
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