For Robert Stanjek and his Team Guyot, 1 March was one to forget. And yet it will probably remain in everyone's memory forever. It was a dark Wednesday that shattered many of the dreams and hopes of Guyot Environnement - Team Europe, which Robert Stanjek had also fought for years to realise. Now the crew had to give up after just a few days on the historically longest, most important and most coveted leg of the Ocean Race due to delamination in the hull. The crew sailed the boat, which was built in 2015, back to Cape Town at a reduced speed. It is still unclear whether the black-green hopeful can be repaired there in a feat of strength and whether the team will be able to make a comeback in the 14th Ocean Race.
By Robert Stanjek, 1 March, 10 p.m.
"We are now travelling at a reduced speed on our way back to Cape Town. We are already in the high pressure area. The wave is still there. We have two sails up and have switched on the engine, there is so little wind. The delaminated area at the bottom of the living area is about two and a half square metres in size. We've now covered it with heavy equipment so that the floor can't move as much. Inside, the foam has crumbled. To prevent this from continuing and possibly breaking the carbon fibre plates, we have weighted down the area so that it doesn't work so hard.
We have tightened all the breeches. The emergency equipment is ready to hand in case the worst comes to the worst. That's unlikely in the current conditions, but we'll get the wind again before Cape Town. I hope it won't be too extreme. For now, it's important to get the ship into the harbour.
"It felt like it was our turn for once"
This morning there was a change of watch at 8am UTC: Annie (Editor: Annie Lush) has come off watch, I'm on. We've been in the middle of this first Southern Ocean low pressure area since yesterday morning. We made the same call as everyone else, not to go in too far south, because there was a real alarm in its centre. We found the lane we wanted. The field then lay behind us like a string of pearls. That was pretty nice. We were really happy with our position (Editor: Second place behind "Holcim - PRB") and also with how the team worked. It felt like it was our turn to show our potential.
We were travelling with a true wind angle of 110 degrees. Ben and Annie had just shaken out the third reef and we had the J3 up. It was a fast room sheet passage. It was wild, of course. Over five or six metre waves, the boat was sometimes travelling at up to 30 knots. But that's okay. We've had that kind of stress on the boat a few times.
"The boat has to get out of the wind, downwind the whole floor is pushing through!"
Annie went down, but after ten minutes she stuck her head back through the door and said: 'Boys, we've got to get the boat out of the wind, the whole floor is pushing through downwind. That's what we did. Then we looked at the alarming spot. Every wave made a loud cracking noise. We first woke everyone up and informed the tech team pretty quickly. They in turn spoke to the designers. We waited a quarter of an hour for feedback. Maybe even longer. The answer was negative. The designers said that you can't drive through the Southern Ocean like that. We actually realised that too. When you see this movement on the two and a half square metres, how it rises and falls by five or six centimetres and cracks incredibly loudly ... It really will be a mission to get the ship to Cape Town in one piece.
At the time it happened, Ben was our watch captain, steering the ship. I was assisting and had just taken over Annie's position. That's no consolation, but I'm still glad that it didn't happen on my watch. The events are a major setback for the sports crew, but also for the whole team. We had already been so battered by damage on the first two legs that we were starting to get fed up and wanted to show what potential there is in this older boat and also in us as a team if we sail it well.
"This stage in particular has spurred me on for years"
It's quite a drama. Personally, this stage in particular has spurred me on for years to get this project off the ground. So this is quite a mental slap in the face. It will certainly take a few days until the soup has cooled down and you've spooned it down. That's how brutal sport can be. We'll see if we can get the ship repaired in Cape Town. I think a new start in Cape Town is rather unrealistic. We had considered stepping on the gas again, but the risk would have remained. We would also have to get through safely first. I think the next few days will be: return transfer, boat out, repairs and then transfer to Itajaí.
