The Guyot Environnement - Team Europe's suffering continues in this 14th edition of the Ocean Race. After a series of technical problems and having to abandon the royal leg with hull damage, the crew led by skipper Ben Dutreux and co-skipper Robert Stanjek from Berlin have now lost their rig. The mast broke in the early morning of 9 May in a nasty North Atlantic storm in more than 30 knots of wind. Around 600 nautical miles east of Newport, Team Guyot's second stage cancellation in a row was sealed.
The good news: the team on board was unharmed. On the other hand, however, there is a whole series of bad news for the long-suffering Ocean Race team. Hopes of a strong comeback in the 14th Ocean Race have once again been dashed with the rigging, possibly for good. The team must now fear for the continuation of the race. The dream of sailing around the world has become a nightmare.
Time and costs speak against the chance of a mast replacement
The replacement mast of the Imoca class is already on its way to Newport from Lorient for Team Holcim-PRB. The mast of the overall leading "Holcim-PRB" was also broke on the fourth leg from Itajaí in Brazil to the US port of Newport on 27 April. What would remain very theoretical for Team Guyot would be the hope of borrowing a replacement mast from a team not taking part in the race. However, not only the associated costs and risks speak against this, but also the short time until the start of stage five, which will take the Ocean Race field across the Atlantic to Aarhus in Denmark from 21 May.
Following the shock event on Tuesday, Guyot Environnement - Team Europe immediately went into crisis mode both on board and ashore. Robert Stanjek initially reported from on board that the crew would now need around five to seven days to reach Newport, meaning they would not reach the US port before the weekend.In initial assessments for YACHT online, co-skipper Robert Stanjek reports from on board the mastless "Guyot" on the events and the possible consequences.
By Robert Stanjek, 9 May, 10 a.m.
"We were travelling up here in the small but strong low-pressure area. We were actually only travelling under mainsail in the third reef. Space sheet course. We were travelling at about 15, 16 knots. I was asleep when the mast broke. Deep and sound. I also woke up because there were two really bad pitches. The boat hit the wave twice and then it got hectic on board. Then I just heard... oh, the mast! I got dressed, got out and got an overview first.
I think the mast only broke once. We have a four-metre-long piece of mast foot on board and unfortunately had to cut the rest. The large piece of mast is very dangerous if it's not attached to the sails and all the shrouds because it's always hitting the hull. You have to make quick decisions. Of course, you can't lift a mast like that on deck with four people - especially not in a wave, because it's dangerous as hell - so your only option is to cut it and get rid of the expensive stuff. A J3, J2 and the main have also gone overboard. And all the shrouds."
Robert Stanjek on his team's series of misfortunes in the 14th The Ocean Race:
"We have a lot of bad luck on the material side, with the technology. We already missed the boat on stage one due to repairs. On stage two, the A2 and the fractional zero. Stage three: delamination and abandonment of the stage. Now we had a problem with the trim line for the foil. The repair, which we had started too hectically, pushed us too far back because we only got it repaired on the second attempt. At the first attempt, the speed of the race was ultimately too fast. You simply had to keep going without the foil.
The number with the mast now is a disaster. I don't know whether you can call it bad luck. But it didn't feel wrong what we did here. I wonder if it's this one big wave that you've got wrong. We really didn't look at the data and compare speeds. We said: OK, we'll ride through here like this, the aim is to arrive clean and clear on the other side of the low pressure area and then push on the tube again. And we were actually all in good spirits that we would push through like this.
Our watch rhythm went well. Half the crew slept, the other half ran the boat. And it was anything but bitchy..."
We won't get a mast here before the start of the next stage. That's completely utopian." Robert Stanjek
"You have to see what happens now and how you deal with everything. I can only offer my sad assumption: The race starts again in Newport in twelve days. There's no way anything will be possible until then. The ship has also suffered damage in the bow area. That has to be repaired. But above all, we can't get a mast to start the transatlantic leg here. That is completely utopian.
Then the transatlantic leg goes very quickly to Europe. That means you can't get the hull to Europe quickly enough to be able to board again in Aarhus. To be honest, I don't know what logistical feat could be used to realise that. And then we are also more of a low-budget campaign. We can't have a mast flown in here. It would quickly run towards half a million for such an endeavour.
Everyone has to think about it now, but it looks anything but cool. I don't want to anticipate anything. The management makes the decisions. But if you look at the timeline, it's all happening in quick succession. And there is no window of opportunity that offers us realistic possibilities."
Everyone needs sleep. Everyone is very exhausted and disappointed right now." Robert Stanjek
"So far, everyone here has been very level-headed in their crisis management. We also just went back into watch mode two hours ago. Everyone needs sleep. Everyone is very exhausted and disappointed right now. The journey to Newport will certainly be similar to the journey home from the third leg: we will need five, six, seven days to get to Newport. There will certainly be several emotional gradations. I don't even want to think about it yet. I'm also so shot for now. It's my turn to go to bed at 10 a.m. German time."
While Team Guyot has to master its fate, the US leaders from Team 11th Hour Racing were able to extend their lead over Team Malizia. On Tuesday morning, Charlie Enright and his crew had a lead of more than 40 nautical miles over Team Malizia with around 400 nautical miles to go to the finish. Team Biotherm followed 80 nautical miles behind.
The first video directly after the mast breakage:
At this point, you will find external content that complements the article. You can display and hide it with a click.
