Yesterday afternoon, around 60 miles south of the Argentinian harbour of Punta del Este, the mast on Groupama broke at the height of the first spreader. "We've just lost our rig," reported a shocked skipper Franck Cammas to the race organisers. "The crew is fine and we're trying to stabilise the mast in the boat." Groupama then suspended the race and discussed with the ground station whether Punta del Este should be approached under engine power or whether the remaining 670 miles to the stage finish in Itajai could be sailed under emergency rig in order to save third place. The replacement mast has to be flown in from Holland. Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi has officially abandoned the leg and will be travelling on to Brazil by freighter because the boat cannot be sufficiently repaired on site.
Of all teams, it was the French, the team that was on the upswing, was in the lead on this stage and had Telefonica in its sights in the overall standings, that had to suffer. This leaves only Puma and the Spaniards, who are sailing further east and are rapidly gaining ground, and who overcame their short stop at the Horn brilliantly. That means a failure rate of 80 per cent. Sanya is already en route to the USA by ship and skips not only this leg but also the next. Camper has started repairs in Puerto Montt and intends to complete the leg under its own steam, while Abu Dhabi has now had to abandon a leg for the second time.
Race director Knut Frostad has finally spoken out. "So many retirements are unacceptable in a race like this," said the Norwegian, who has taken part in this event four times himself. "It's not unusual for the boats to be damaged and both the sailors and the service teams on land are used to dealing with this. But these (problems) are significantly greater than in the past." Clearly, a race in which only two of six boats are still sailing and only one of them (Puma) did not have to make a pit stop on this leg is not what was promised to the public and sponsors.
De facto, however, the incidents show that these boats are not stable enough even after the rule modifications. "We will take the circumstances into account when deciding which rules and which boats we will use in the future," says Frostad. So it seems that what has been rumoured behind closed doors in the scene is coming true, namely that there could soon be a change of boats in the Volvo Ocean Race. Perhaps even a standardised class?
