EDS Atlantic Challenge - Gartmore loses rudder

GARTMORE LOSES RUDDER

In the middle of the night Gartmore hit something solid and have sheared off their port rudder. They remain on course for St Malo. Fila leads

Just 500 miles from the finish of the final leg of the EDS Atlantic Challenge, Gartmore (Josh Hall) hit something solid, and have completely sheared the port rudder off the boat. The incident happened at around 0400 GMT today. Gartmore was sailing at 15 –17 knots with full mainsail and their large Code 5 gennaker set when they hit what the crew thought might have been a container. An unusually dejected Josh Hall described the mood on board. “We are absolutely gutted,” he said, “but we do intend to make the finish in St. Malo. We have managed to contain the leak by wedging a carbon disc into the rudder shaft, with half of our boat hook wedged between it and the deckhead to keep it in place.” With the wind still blowing from the southwest, the crew have reduced sail in order to keep the starboard rudder in the water. “We are hoping for a northerly wind,” Hall said. “We have to keep the boat upright on starboard tack, or get a favourable wind direction so that we can sail on port. The bilge pump is running every 30 to 45 minutes. We are pretty much disappointed and fed up by this latest development.”

Gartmore is just over 200 miles southwest of Ireland, while the lead boats are due south of the Irish coast and dealing with some very difficult sailing conditions. The wind has died completely leaving them searching for zephyrs on a glassy ocean. “Our boat speed has jumped from under one knot, to just over two knots since we started speaking,” said Conrad Humphreys, crew on Ecover. “There is not much wind out here.” Ecover has relinquished their lead to Fila who are sailing in similar conditions. “Maybe we have one knot more wind than Ecover,” said Andrea Scarabelli, skipper of Fila. “We have been able to keep moving through the night by working hard and concentrating on boat speed. While it’s nice to be back in front again, we are of course concerned about the boats behind catching up to us. They are bringing more wind with them.”

Indeed Sill Plein Fruit (Roland Jourdain) was the fastest boat in the fleet at the last poll, and have narrowed their distance to the leader to just 85 miles. “The race is never over until it’s over,” said Jourdain. “We have good local knowledge off the Brittany coast and know the tides. We were very pleased that all the boats waited for us at the start in Boston, and now we are pleased that they are waiting for us at the finish as well.” At the last poll Fila had 314 miles to go the finish in St Malo and is expected to reach France sometime Friday. Because of the fickle conditions, none of the skippers were able to give a firm ETA. The EDS Atlantic Challenge website www.edsatlanticchallenge.com is an innovative and interactive resource for rankings and breaking news.

Boat Positions:

At 10:50 GMT, on a distance to finish (DTF) reading, the positions were as follows:

Radio Interview Extracts:

Nick Moloney, Kingfisher. “This race could start all over again. We are happy that the wind has gone light. It gives us more time and opportunity to win the leg, so we don’t mind how long it takes to get to France.”

Andrea Scarabelli, Fila. “In these conditions I don’t think our mainsail is a problem. It doesn’t look good, but it’s holding okay and that’s better than not having a mainsail.”

Helena Darvelid, AlphaGraphics. “We still have good winds and hope to narrow the distance to the leaders. They are a long way ahead, but it would be nice to finish closer to them, although it seems as if our wind will be disappearing soon as well.”

Josh Hall, Gartmore. “We were not surprised to hit something. We have in fact hit something seven or eight times on this leg. Some of them were obviously fish, but not all.”

Roland Jourdain, Sill Plein Fruit. “Maybe we have a chance to pass the boats ahead. In other races I have sailed the lead has changed close to the end, so maybe this time it will happen again.”

Conrad Humphreys, Ecover. “We have altered our course to the south for two reasons. We are looking to find some wind from a small low off the coast of France, and we are also worried about Sill coming up from behind. We have to beat them in this leg to be second overall.”

More Information:

• YachtsandYachting.com EDS Atlantic Challenge Page