The SCA, Dongfeng and Mapfre teams each made a patent jibe. The crews were uninjured.
The Dongfeng Race Team was the first to suffer. Its on-board reporter reported: "It took two to three hours to clean up the mess. The boat was lying on its side, we had taken in 300 litres of water through a ventilation opening." Apparently the vents on the windward side were open, and the yacht took in water through them after the patent jibe due to its extreme position - the tilt keel was on the wrong side.
The patent neck of Mapfre
Next, Team SCA was turned upside down at around 05:00 UTC, on-board reporter Anna-Lena Elled reported: "We lay on our side for maybe two to four minutes before slowly returning to the correct position." The crew assessed the damage and began to carry out the first repairs, Elled continued. Apparently some of the battens were broken and the main had to be salvaged. As it was night, the team sailed with the brakes on until daybreak so that they could repair the damage. This manoeuvre cost over 40 nautical miles.
Mapfre also reported a patent jibe that occurred at around 20.00 UTC. The main boom was also damaged and had to be temporarily salvaged.
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing got off more lightly: two gybes were completed during the night, albeit planned, but one of them ended in a near-sun shot.
Team Brunel almost lost yesterday's comfortable lead and was only eight nautical miles ahead of Abu Dhabi.
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
