Vestas was involved in a collision with a fishing boat, just before finishing Leg 4 into HongKong. One crew member of the fishing Boat, was seriously injured and later died.
Very little information has been published neither by Vestas nor by VolvoOceanRace. In an era of openness and involvement, this is a little odd. So there might be a fierce juridical battle being fought out, in the backrooms.
Also the situation of the collision, the weather /sea conditions at that moment, it is all left for guessing.
What I do recall, is that there was a proper NE wind and proper sight, it was dark though. The Vestas boat however is full of radar and other observation equipment and it seems strange that they did not see the fishing boat; even if the last boat would not have had navigation lights.
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| Vestas shipped out of Hong Kong |
Consequence for Vestas, is reported today,. The repairs are large , and can not be completed in HongKong. So Vestas boat is shipped out to Auckland, and they all hope that repairs can be made there ahead of the start of Leg 7, Auckland to Itajai - Brasil. A new bow section is being build at the Italian boatyard that made these VO65 boats, as strictest rules apply for the OneDesign boats.
Lets hope that Vestas can join VOR again in Leg 7.
