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Groupama to pursue podium with jury rig
Groupama sailing team plan to construct a jury rig and resume racing to Itajaí after reaching Punta del Este at 0335 UTC on Thursday, 12 hours after dismasting.
Though devastated, French skipper Franck Cammas and his crew are keen to return to the racetrack as soon as practical as a podium finish remains well within reach.
While they are unlikely to return to pole position, with only about 600 nautical miles remaining to the finish, third place is likely as CAMPER continue repairs in Chile and the remainder of the fleet have retired.
"We will try to keep racing to Itajaí with a jury rig to take the third place, it’s a beautiful hope, there are 20 points to take and we are hanging on to that hope,'' Cammas said.
"We will do everything to make it happen with the shore team, who will come to Punta del Este, and find a way to do this jury rig."
The French team were leading the Leg 5 race to Itajaí, Brazil when their mast broke, level with the first spreader, about 10 metres above deck. The team suspended racing at 1542 UTC.
Cammas, who was at the helm, said he heard a big bang and saw the mast fold in two above him.
“The mast had folded, the top part fell on the back of the boat, next to me, to leeward. The mast had broken in two, just below the first spreaders. It was very strange, we didn’t think an issue could come from there.
“We tried to deal with these things as quickly as possible, to stop the situation from getting worse. It was rather long as we had the two sails in the water, which acted like floating anchors and pushed hard on the broken tube."
Groupama were 59 nautical miles from Punta del Este, and opted to motor to port. The team were considering shipping their spare mast from the Netherlands and stepping it in port, but this morning decided to continue under jury rig.
Groupama's racing suspension left PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG and Team Telefónica to battle it out for the leg victory. At 0400 UTC PUMA held a 37 nautical mile lead over the Spanish team.
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Comments
a jury rig is when the 11 crew members sit there and deliberate which rig to use :)
Probably not a great day for the sponsors (again) - only 2 finishers with a small fleet to start with . . . Breakages probably not compatible with Volvo brand image and values. Maybe if Volvo continue with sponsorship then more robust design rules need be considered.
jury rig is better than no rig to sail,,, go groupama,,, go to finish line the neptune is still wiyh you all even they speak any english properly,,,
I still feel strongly in an round the world race that you should not be allowed to "motor" anywhere (even backwards) and continue racing. If you wanted to continue racing you should have to jury rig to SAIL to port, fix what you can and then SAIL to the finish. Once you turn your engine on for whatever reason your leg should be over.
A jury rig is a "rig for a day", something temporary, made out of parts and materials on hand. For Groupama, I guessing, this will probably be a repaired mast. Not a mast that they would want to race with, given the choice, but something that will get them over the finish line to Itajai, where they have a base of equipment, tools, apartments, etc. They can send their spare mast there more easily and replace it more efficiently. All the other work, no small task, can be done as scheduled.
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