The forecast has largely materialised and the fleet, which has now tacked to starboard, is being battered by the stormy north-easterly wind and powerful waves. A bulkhead in the bow area of Abu Dhabi, which was supposed to take the load of the luff of the small jib, was blown out. So the decision was to go back and repair it. After the mast breakage at the beginning and the voluntary retirement of the first helmsman, this is a further setback for the team, which has so far sailed far below expectations. However, they were also lucky in misfortune: the service staff in Auckland quickly mixed the epoxy and worked quickly in other respects too, so "Azzam" was back on the course within 24 hours.
"If we had been underway for a week, we would have sailed on smoothly," Walker explained. "I don't think the damage is a structural threat, but it would have been a big repair (outside) to put that bulkhead back in to take up the pull of the quad jib, which we'll probably need 80 per cent of the time in the Southern Ocean. Because we were only 40 miles from Auckland, we decided to turn back and get the damage repaired quicker and better so we could concentrate on catching up."
At least the hope is alive, because it is a very long and difficult leg and Abu Dhabi's gap to the field at the restart was "only" 200 miles. With a bit of luck with the weather, solid sailing and, above all, no further breakage, this could possibly be made up. But the others are not interested in that at the moment. 48 knots of wind and waves more than five metres high were reported in the 02:00 position report. In the meantime, the sheets have been shortened a little and the wild ride is heading for Antarctica at an average of over 18 knots. The motto: as much speed as necessary, as much protection as possible. Will it go well? It's best to click through the gallery ...
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