theonlyholmesjb: The year could not have started off better,…
The year could not have started off better, first a good show at the 4 Hills ski Jumping Tournee, and then this.
For those of you who do not follow sailing, the Volvo Ocean Race is one of the toughest races in the world. It is sailed over nine months, with nine sailing legs, this year starting from Spain around the world and finishing in Sweden.
On the night of the 29th of november, Team Vestas Wind ran aground on a coral reef near Mauritius. The closest inhabited area was around 200nMiles from them by boat. They were stranded there on a boat that was badly wrecked. Team Alvimedica, who were the closest to them, stopped racing in order to help them, they stayed with them till the morning when Team Vestas had some control over the situation. Once help arrived they got back to the mainland. Thankfully no one had serious injuries. Even just being a supporter I was not only worried for the sailors, but once the fright for the sailors well being and shock was dealt with, I was heartbroken for them. I cannot begin to imagine how they and their families must have felt.
Once their shore team had everything sorted out they came back and cleaned the place up, so as not to mess up the environment. For a long time it was not certain they could come back into the race. But today the team CEO said they would be back. For me, this is brilliant news, I cannot wait to see the guys and the blue boat back on the water.
p.s. i have not put up any of the pictures of the grounded boat, because i prefer never to see those kind of images again.
Reposted from http://ift.tt/1zEoIog.
Tags: vor, volvo ocean race, team vestas wind.
