Vestas Ready to Rejoin Volvo Race

Six weeks after crashing into a fishing boat and killing one fisherman in the crowded waters of Hong Kong, the Vestas/11th Hour Racing Volvo 65 is repaired and back in the water. The boat had been shipped to New Zealand for repairs following the collision just prior to the finish of Leg 4, at 1 a.m. on January 20. It launched today in Auckland, with a test sail scheduled for later this week.

"It’s been an amazing effort by all involved to get the boat back in the water," said American skipper Charlie Enright, 33. "A month ago we said we’d be back on the water on this day, and we’ve stuck to the schedule. It’s amazing."

The team and the Volvo Ocean Race organizers have been circumspect in discussing the collision, but the Vestas skippers have opened up a bit more about that night. Enright was not aboard at the time. Mark Towill, 29, was skipper for Leg 4. Enright sat it out due to a family crisis. During Leg 3, from South Africa to Australia, Enright’s 2-year-old son had been admitted to the hospital with a case of bacterial pneumonia. "There comes a point when family is more important than the job you’ve been hired to do and I was at that point," said Enright. "I did what was best for my family." Immediately before the end of Leg 4, Enright traveled to Hong Kong to greet the crew at the finish line, but instead wound up playing an active role in the crisis management process from shore.

“I have been asked if it would have been different if I was onboard. Definitely not,” said Enright. “The crew has been well trained in crisis situations and performed as they should. They knew what to do and I think they did a phenomenal job given the circumstances. The team was engaged in search and rescue for more than two hours with a compromised race boat,” Enright said.

“I’m very proud of our crew. We were in a very difficult situation with the damage to the bow, but everyone acted professionally and without hesitation,” added Towill. Both skippers expressed their condolences to the family of the fisherman who did not survive that night.

Despite the badly damaged bow, Towill and the crew of the stricken raceboat carried out a search and rescue effort. Ten fishermen were retrieved from the water. The one who died was transferred to a helicopter with the assistance of the Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre.

A new port bow section was laid up over a VO65 hull mold at Persico Marine in Italy and then sent to New Zealand, where it was spliced to the hull of the team’s VO65 in the past two weeks. East Bay resident Bill Erkelens Jr. is the team manager and received high praise from Enright and Towill. Erkelens had put together Enright and Towill’s program in the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race, and he was the first person they hired for the current team.

Leg 7, 6,700 miles through the Southern Ocean and around Cape Horn to Itajaí, Brazil, is scheduled to begin March 18.

For more details, see www.vestas11thhourracing.com and www.volvooceanrace.com.