Nov. 30-The crew of Team Vestas was recovered in the early morning hours by a Coast Guard dinghy.The Danish team, captained by Chris Nicholson, had run aground on Saturday afternoon in a reef at Cargados Carajos Shoals in the Mauritius area. All nine members are fine, no one was hurt.For many hours (in fact, the accident occurred at 3:10 p.m.), the crew was forced to stay aboard the damaged VO65, whose stern was continually at the mercy of ocean waves.
The rudder blades broke on impact and the stern began to take on water, forcing the team to close the aft pond compartment. Around midnight, the crew abandoned the boat and, on foot (thanks to the shallow reef bottom), reached a dry outcropping area to await rescue.
Nov. 29 – Real danger at the Volvo Ocean Race. Team Vestas Wind on Saturday afternoon, November 29 si ran aground in a coral reef over 200 miles NNE from Mauritius. Fortunately, we say right away, no one was injured. But both rudders are damaged and and that there is a water way in the aft compartment of the boat. The Volvo Ocean 65 is equipped with watertight compartments both aft and forward. The rest of the boat, including, the mast was not damaged.
In the last update, at 10:45 p.m., Team Vestas Wind informed that they had inflated two life rafts and attached them to the stern of the boat, which continues to bump on reef rocks, the bow is headed offshore. The team added that the rafts are kept about 15 meters from the boat so they can be reached if necessary. Initially this was not planned, but the rafts were inflated in casethis could notbe done later.
For now, the crew plans to abandon the boat when daylight arrives with the assistance of the Ile du Sud Coast Guard and Team Alvimedica, which arrived at the scene of the accident.
