Team Vestas Wind hit a reef near the Cargados-Carajos Islands northeast of Mauritius yesterday afternoon. ran and badly damaged. As the race organisers announced during the night, the crew abandoned the yacht. They waded through the knee-deep water to a dry spot, where they were met by the coastguard. They have now arrived safely and unharmed on the southern part of the main island, where there are a few barracks for accommodation. They are still considering how to organise the removal of the crew and the salvage of the yacht.
The Cargados-Carajos Islands are part of the submarine Mascarene Plateau and are only around 3.2 square kilometres in size. However, there is an extensive reef that stretches 65 kilometres in a north-south direction. This apparently proved to be Team Vestas' undoing.
Once the crew was safely ashore, Team Alvimedica continued the race. The crew had crossed in front of the reef so that they could provide assistance if necessary.
At the update at 3.40 UTC, Abu Dhabi was ahead with a slight lead in the top quartet. The feared low-pressure system had weakened beforehand and caused unstable winds on its western flank.
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
