All nine crewmembers from Team Vestas Wind are safe after a harrowing ordeal that began when their boat was grounded on a remote archipelago in the Indian Ocean. The accident occurred on Saturday afternoon at 1510 UTC while the boat was traveling 19 knots. The crew remained aboard until the early hours of the following morning before abandoning the boat and wading in knee-deep water to a dry portion of the reef.
Competitors Team Alvimedica remained on standby through the night until a coast guard RIB from the remote islet of Ile Du Sud could reach Team Vestas.
The crew then remained on Ile Du Sud for nearly two days, save for returning to the boat to retrieve lines, fluids, electronics and hardware. “The bad things had to come off,” said skipper Chris Nicholson.“We had a clear list of removing that equipment, and once we had all those off the boat it came down to removing things that were expensive.”
Finally, the crew boarded the local fishing vessel Eliza, and returned to Mauritus.
“I’m really disappointed of course,” said Nicholson, shortly after arriving at dockside in Mauritius. “On the other hand, we have to realize how fortunate we are for everyone to be here in one piece, and to be healthy. It’s pretty amazing, so there’s a lot of emotions at the moment.”
Now that they’re safely to Mauritius, they’re releasing more information surrounding the crash. Footage, courtesy of the Volvo Ocean Race and Team Vestas Wind’s onboard reporter Brian Carlin.
