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24.03.2011 Back to news
Back to France!
 | © Stephanie Gaspari |
News of the keel
The survey in Ushuaia revealed that the keel damage was due to a collision with an OFNI (Non-Identified Floating Object). “The surveyor identified marks on the keel fin (between the hull and the bulb) which confirm that we had a collision. In fact we did hear a strange noise under the boat three days before the keel failure. We did thoroughly inspect Groupe Bel without detecting anything, but the damage became apparent later, and seeing the state of the keel now, we realise that we were very lucky. Having inspected the boat, we are pleased to report that the structure and rig of Groupe Bel are in good condition. Despite the difficult conditions we encountered, especially in the Pacific Ocean, the boat held together well,” Kito explained on Monday.
The team will be able to launch into a new race against the clock as soon as Groupe Bel arrives in France and, given the sound technical state of the boat, the refit work should be accomplished fairly quickly! “As ever, all of our decisions are and will be taken to ensure the safety of the boat and prepare correctly for the rest of the race schedule which won’t wait,” the skipper added.
Return by ship to the Mediterranean end April
The Bel team in Ushuaia is now down to a minimum, since Gwen (sporting director) is there alone while awaiting the arrival of Brice (boat captain). In ten days or so, they will oversee the high flying operation that loading a 60 foot monohull onto a ship involves! For the good news is that the team has found a ship which is due to leave Ushuaia at the end of March, and will arrive approximately one month later in Sete (less than 50 kms from Groupe Bel’s base in Port Camargue)! The timing will enable the refit to get underway for the relaunch of Groupe Bel at the beginning of June.
Still keeping an eye on the Barcelona World Race
While Sébastien Audigane is back in Brittany and dreaming of but one thing: preparing for another lap of the planet, this time solo, in the 2012-2013 Vendée Globe, Kito arrived home at the weekend and admitted today that he still feels a little out of phase. “Overall, I am in a fairly good state. You have to slowly get back to normal life after 70 days of racing. I have managed to sleep a bit, and now I need to put together a little reconditioning programme. I am keeping an eye on what is going on in the Barcelona Race, and it feels a bit strange. The last part of the race promises to be very interesting, and nothing is certain position-wise. The gap between Virbac-Paprec 3 and Mapfre is fairly small on the scale of the North Atlantic, and the battle for 3rd place isn’t over either” Kito concluded. He will probably go to Barcelona for the finish of the first boats. Thereby completing the loop in his own way…
The survey in Ushuaia revealed that the keel damage was due to a collision with an OFNI (Non-Identified Floating Object). “The surveyor identified marks on the keel fin (between the hull and the bulb) which confirm that we had a collision. In fact we did hear a strange noise under the boat three days before the keel failure. We did thoroughly inspect Groupe Bel without detecting anything, but the damage became apparent later, and seeing the state of the keel now, we realise that we were very lucky. Having inspected the boat, we are pleased to report that the structure and rig of Groupe Bel are in good condition. Despite the difficult conditions we encountered, especially in the Pacific Ocean, the boat held together well,” Kito explained on Monday.
The team will be able to launch into a new race against the clock as soon as Groupe Bel arrives in France and, given the sound technical state of the boat, the refit work should be accomplished fairly quickly! “As ever, all of our decisions are and will be taken to ensure the safety of the boat and prepare correctly for the rest of the race schedule which won’t wait,” the skipper added.
Return by ship to the Mediterranean end April
The Bel team in Ushuaia is now down to a minimum, since Gwen (sporting director) is there alone while awaiting the arrival of Brice (boat captain). In ten days or so, they will oversee the high flying operation that loading a 60 foot monohull onto a ship involves! For the good news is that the team has found a ship which is due to leave Ushuaia at the end of March, and will arrive approximately one month later in Sete (less than 50 kms from Groupe Bel’s base in Port Camargue)! The timing will enable the refit to get underway for the relaunch of Groupe Bel at the beginning of June.
Still keeping an eye on the Barcelona World Race
While Sébastien Audigane is back in Brittany and dreaming of but one thing: preparing for another lap of the planet, this time solo, in the 2012-2013 Vendée Globe, Kito arrived home at the weekend and admitted today that he still feels a little out of phase. “Overall, I am in a fairly good state. You have to slowly get back to normal life after 70 days of racing. I have managed to sleep a bit, and now I need to put together a little reconditioning programme. I am keeping an eye on what is going on in the Barcelona Race, and it feels a bit strange. The last part of the race promises to be very interesting, and nothing is certain position-wise. The gap between Virbac-Paprec 3 and Mapfre is fairly small on the scale of the North Atlantic, and the battle for 3rd place isn’t over either” Kito concluded. He will probably go to Barcelona for the finish of the first boats. Thereby completing the loop in his own way…
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