Spanish ocean racers forced to bail water

Spanish hopes of catching the leaders on the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race were dealt a double blow when a broken pipe and then electronic problems nearly forced skipper Iker Martínez to abandon.
His crew were rushed into emergency bailing when seawater came flooding into his boat, MAPFRE, via a machine which desalinates it for drinking.
It took an hour and a half to clear out the excess water but the teams’ problems were not over after the charger for the onboard motor failed, leaving the batteries at only 33 per cent power.
Although the boat is sailed by wind-power alone, the motor is needed for several key functions such as supplying electricity for the navigation system, lights and the water purifier.
The problem was later fixed but MAPFRE lost ground on its rivals and now lags some 220 nautical miles (nm) off the lead in the 6,487nm opening leg between Alicante and Cape Town.
“If this happens again in the days to come, which we know are going to be hard, then it could be very, very serious,” said crew member Francisco Vignale.
MAPFRE was sailing some 1,000nm from the Brazilian eastern coast when the incidents happened.
Three boats – Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, Team Brunel (Netherlands) and Team Vestas Wind (Denmark) – were within some six nm of each other by midday GMT Thursday with Dongfeng Race Team (China) 12 nm further adrift in fourth.
A women’s crew, Team SCA, were some 110 nm behind MAPFRE in seventh and last place.
The leg, expected to finish in Cape Town around November 6, is one of the most closely-contested in the history of the 41-year-old event which was first launched as the Whitbread Round the World Race.
The seven-strong fleet is all using the one-design Volvo Ocean 65 which has levelled the playing field and put a premium on seamanship rather than boat design.
The race is contested over 38,739 nautical miles and visits 11 ports, taking nearly nine monthsm and concludes in Gothenburg, Sweden, on June 27, 2015.
Source: AFP