 Pirates (left) and Movistar have been forced to stop racing |
Gale-force winds and high seas have caused severe damage to two of the Volvo Ocean Race fleet boats less than 24 hours after the start in Spain. Movistar and Pirates of the Caribbean have been forced to stop racing and head for shelter to make repairs.
Spanish entry Movistar is heading to Cadiz with a broken hydraulic ram on the canting keel system.
"All the guys are sitting on deck, staring blankly, a dream has come apart abruptly," said skipper Bouwe Bekking.
"It looks like a major, but we will wait to hear what the experts say."
American skipper Paul Cayard and his Pirates crew have suffered leakage around the keel of their boat Black Pearl.
They are heading to the south of Portugal to assess the damage and begin repairs.
A third boat, Brunel Sunergy - renamed from Premier Challenge after a new sponsor at the last minute - broke some rigging overnight and has slipped back through the fleet.
Conditions are too rough to send a man up the mast to fix the problems.
Seven yachts set sail from the Spanish port of Vigo on Saturday, headed for Cape Town, South Africa.
At 1000 GMT on Sunday, one of two Dutch entries, ABN Amro Two, with a young development crew onboard, led by 12 nautical miles from their senior boat ABN Amro One, skippered by experienced Kiwi Mike Sanderson.
Brasil 1, skippered by double Olympic gold medallist Torben Grael, were third with Briton Neal McDonald and his Ericsson team fourth, 29 miles adrift.
Ericsson won the opening in-port race in Galicia last week and lead the standings with 3.5 points from Brasil 1 (3 pts) and Pirates (2.5 pts).
From Cape Town, the fleet then sails eastward round the world in eight more legs, stopping off in Melbourne, Wellington, Rio de Janeiro, Baltimore, New York, Portsmouth, Rotterdam and Gothenburg.
MMIX
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