Monday brought lighter than expected winds and an adverse current which acted against Team Malizia’s boat Malizia – Seaexplorer, slowing them down. Then, conditions changed dramatically as they experienced the first big weather system, bringing with it rolling seas, stronger winds, cooler temperatures and a glimpse of what’s in store in the Southern Ocean. Team Malizia’s navigator for leg 3 is the experienced French sailor Nico Lunven, who is one of the best in the world, and in deciding what route to take, they must strike a balance between maintaining speed and keeping the boat intact.
At sunset on Wednesday, a strong metal part holding up Malizia – Seaexplorer’s headsail broke and the sail fell into to the water, wrapping itself around the foils and keel in the process. Team Malizia were forced to cut away the headsail to free it and then drag it back onboard in order to prevent any further damage. They then discovered that when the sail fell down, it damaged the mast, tearing a 26cm long hole in the top section. They put in place a plan to carry out a complicated repair whilst at sea, with the hope they can then quickly get back into the month long race.
On Thursday, having collected all the materials needed for the repair, the whole team had to work fast and with precision. There was little room for error, they were in constant communication with each other and supported by the on-shore tech team. Co-skipper Will Harris volunteered to scale the 28m mast in order to complete the complicated lamination process required to return the mast to full strength and allow them to race with full sails. The team have described it as ‘gruelling’, he was up there for many hours, some of it in darkness, with 3 metre waves adding to the challenge. At sunrise on Friday, co-skipper Rosalin Kuiper went back up the mast to finalise and test the repair work, another demanding job. To the team’s relief, the repairs seem to have been a complete success and they will soon be able to resume racing at full speed.
You can watch the video of the mast repair here and the article here.
A clear gap has opened up between leaders Team Holcim PRB and the rest of the fleet and Team Malizia are not the only ones to have had an eventful start to the leg. Two other teams, Biotherm and 11th Hour Racing, had technical issues that delayed their departure from Cape Town on Sunday and GUYOT environnement Team Europe have had to suspend racing and return to Cape Town for essential repairs.
In spite of everything, Team Malizia are safe and in good spirits. The events of the last few days have definitely been an early test of the team’s resilience and morale, but they have persevered and are determined to succeed. An emotional Boris Herrmann said: “I am so happy, we are back sailing, the workshop is cleaned away and most things are fixed on board. I feel so ready for the next part of this race, it fills me with energy to think about what we have just achieved across the whole team and I am ready to go for the rest of this leg! The race is still on, we aren’t far from 11th Hour and Biotherm and the race is still long!”
Sailing requires strength of character, teamwork, and an ability to navigate ever changing environments with skill, all values we admire. We applaud Team Malizia’s determination in the face of adversity and wish them the very best of luck for the remainder of this challenging 3rd leg. We will continue to post updates as it unfolds.
Follow all the action on the race tracker here.
Team Malizia’s in-depth articles and videos describing the events of the leg are here:
https://www.team-malizia.com/news/team-malizia-finds-a-crack-at-the-top-of-their-mast
https://www.team-malizia.com/news/despair-gives-way-to-hope
For further information head to Team Malizia's website and social media channels (YouTube, Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram) or go to The Ocean Race website.