Telefonica Blue- Work in progress and damage report

Telefonica Blue- Work in progress and damage report - Images and Video

by Gabri Olivo and Maria Muina on 16 Jun 2009

Telefonica shore crews work around the clock to fix the damage sustained when they ran aground at the start of leg 9 Maria Muina/Equipo Telefonica

TELEFÓNICA BLUE LEG NINE DAY 2 QFB: received 15.06.09 1708 GMT

Work in progress....

This morning the boat has been hauled out of the water and work has started. All the guys, shore crew and sailors have been divided into each area of the boat, depending on everyone’s skills.

First priority was to check the bulb with all the bolts and the fin, to make sure everything was still in place and aligned. Then we had to check the mast area around the daggerboard case to see if the damage extended to the bulkheads or not.

Telefonica shore crews work around the clock to fix the damage sustained when they ran aground at the start of leg 9 © Maria Muina/Equipo Telefonica

Everyone was working, helping with a hammer and a scissors to clean up the mess around the bulb. You can see on each face that we all want to get back racing as soon as possible and try to get to Stockholm in time for the inshore. But time, is against us, so we need to work fast.

Telefonica shore crews work around the clock to fix the damage sustained when they ran aground at the start of leg 9 © Maria Muina/Equipo Telefonica

A big relief came when Mark Bishop from the Farr office checked the boat inside out and finally confessed that he was quite surprised to see how the boat was still in pretty good shape. No doubts that the design office and the builders have done an incredible job.

After hammering the boat upwind in 50 knots of wind during the fourth leg, we ‘tested’ the boat more than once and our lady came out like a princess for a wedding. A few scratches here and there but nothing major. Simply amazing. The clock is ticking and there is little time to rest. Keep working hard...