The Ocean Race: The crazy race for the replacement mast for "Holcim - PRB"
Jochen Rieker
· 27.04.2023
At the moment, the wires are burning between Kevin Escoffier's "Holcim - PRB", the team management, the sponsor, the Imoca class and logistics experts. Because literally every minute counts when trying to keep the boat in the race and on course for victory.
Here are the most important questions and answers according to the current status of YACHT, as far as we have been able to verify them.
Where does the replacement mast come from?
Only a few Imoca teams have their own second rig. That's why the Imoca class has a spare part available from the manufacturer of the standardised masts, Lorima, for cases like this.
Until last year, this was a used and refurbished mast that went to Louis Burton's "Bureau Vallée" after his rig broke during the Transat Jacques Vabre in November 2021.
Before the Ocean Race, a new replacement mast was then built in Lorient on behalf of the Imoca class, also in view of the current round-the-world regatta.
It is available to the team that first registers the need and covers the costs for the mast and transport. Team Holcim has already contacted the class. The question now is how to get the carbon aerofoil to and onto the boat.
Why it has to be quick
If time was not an issue, the mast would be loaded onto a ship as deck cargo and sent to Brazil, Florida or directly to Newport. In the worst case scenario, however, this could take so long that the possible victory for "Holcim - PRB" would be jeopardised because up to 15 rating points could be missing - five for stage four to Newport, which are gone anyway, and another ten for stage five to Aarhus, which counts double and is therefore so important if "Holcim" were not on the starting line in time.
To make matters worse, the stay in Newport will only be short. At best, the teams will have a week for technical work before the programme of Pro-Am and In-Port races starts up again. Newport is a non-haul-out stop, meaning that the boats stay in the water, as they did in Cape Verde between legs one and two. The rig can also be positioned in this way using a mobile crane, which is not the problem. But the remaining 4,000 nautical miles to the stage harbour are too long, the engine of the Imocas is too weak and the speed under engine is too low at around 5 knots to get the boat to Newport in time - which would require multiple bunkering of diesel anyway. Under emergency rig or engine, "Holcim - PRB" would be underway for a month. This option is therefore ruled out.
Another option by sea would be to hoist "Holcim" on deck by crane using a special ship, transport it directly to Miami or Newport and send the mast from Lorient to North America by deck freight at the same time. This option is also currently being considered and clarified, but is also time-critical.
Boris Herrmann from Team Malizia has already established contacts between his sponsor Kühne + Nagel and its logistics experts and Kevin Escoffier's team.
The safest and fastest way is via air freight. But even that is extremely tricky and, above all, very, very expensive!
Which aircraft can swallow a 28 metre rig?
Aviation capacities are not designed for shipping masts. The weight of the Imoca rig of several hundred kilograms does not play a significant role; any passenger aircraft can cope with it. It is the length and the loading options that make the transport so difficult.
This is because most conventional aeroplanes are divided into sections, as Thomas Kölbl from the Munich-based specialist company CargoWings explained to YACHT. "A Boeing 737 has compartments of a maximum length of 10 metres," he said this morning. "And the cargo compartments are loaded via side doors." This rules out the most common shipping option, which would also be immediately bookable worldwide. Special cargo aircraft are needed.
But capacities are limited, as Andreas Wald from Chapman Freeborn knows, a globally active charter company that is predestined for cases like this. "Due to the length of the mast, loading is only possible through the nose and stern," says the sales manager. "And it needs one of the largest freighters available."
The Russian Ilyushin, for example, would be too small for this. An Antonov 124 would be an option, but due to the war in Ukraine it is subject to an "extreme market shortage", as Andreas Wald says. The operator, a Ukrainian carrier, now has to maintain the entire operation with limited resources due to the destruction of large parts of its fleet. This makes a flight to Brazil, for example, practically unaffordable: "1.5 to 2 million dollars," estimates the Chapman Freeborn expert.
A Boeing 747 with a nose door, some of which are even used on scheduled services, would be much cheaper. It could load the mast. However, the costs would still be in the six-figure euro range, according to YACHT information at least 300,000 to 400,000 euros. And only a few aircraft regularly fly to South America.
Where to put the mast and boat?
This raises another question, namely the best destination. It depends on the manoeuvrability of the Imoca, which has not yet been clarified, but also on the tight schedule.
It would be conceivable to direct the mast and the boat to the Port of Santos south-east of São Paulo or to Recife. The team would then have to rig there and then follow the field to Newport on its own keel, outside the classification. But a destination like Miami would also be feasible and conceivable.
According to the latest information from YACHT in France, the replacement mast will probably be shipped today, or tomorrow at the latest. Where to is not yet confirmed.
Whatever the final decision, it will be a race against time.
