What the team around chief organiser Knut Frostad has come up with sounds complicated. Due to the risk of pirate attacks on the second leg from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi and the third leg from Abu Dhabi to Sanya, the course and schedule have now been changed. A safe, as yet unnamed harbour is to be called at from Cape Town, from where the boats would then be transported close to Abu Dhabi and then sail to the end of the leg. It has not yet been announced how the transport will take place. However, the in-port races could take place as planned before Abu Dhabi.
From Abu Dhabi to China, the plan is similar: get out of the dangerous zone, then start again.
The easiest option would have been to cancel Abu Dhabi. However, the emirate has its own team.
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
