Trying to repair a yacht to racing standards is a nerve-wracking experience, as these VOR case histories prove
Telefonica Blue
During the worst of the weather Bouwe Bekking’s crew saw the satellite dome washed off the stern of the boat. On day 9 the boat struck a floating object and took a chunk out of the crash bow, the sacrificial section of bow forward of a watertight collision bulkhead.
Other than this no other serious damage was reported on Leg 4. Earlier in the race though, Telefonica Blue had sustained damage to the tiller arm on leg 1 and had emulated her sistership’s failure on the same day and point of sail and broken her daggerboard on leg 2.