The three sailors aboard the Open 60 W Hotels were dealt another blow early this morning when they broached after being struck by a large wave. The trio had been waiting for an opportunity to re-ship its port rudder, which had only recently been repaired.
Although there were no injuries, the boat is now over 100 miles behind its rival Estrella Damm, which crewmembers Alex Pella, Pepe Ribes and Stan Schreyer reported was making 17 knots some 400 miles west of Gibraltar. The two boats are racing to set a new benchmark between the cities of New York and Barcelona, Spain.
“Yesterday morning a wave had hit the windward rudder. We had almost completely fixed it,” said W Hotels crewmember Pachi Rivero. “We were nearly there when this wave hit and we lost control. It felt like a lot of time knocked down, and on top of the broken rudder, which was just curing, it is a pretty sorry sight. We have put as much as we can right for the moment. It is a shame because many boatyards would be envious of the repair which Too Piris had done and we were almost ready to go.”
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