Recovering a wrecked Volvo 65 from a remote reef in the Indian Ocean and shipping her over 5,000 miles to a yard tucked up against the foothills of the Italian Alps was an huge undertaking in itself. But rebuilding this highly refined, weight conscious, 12.5tonne all-carbon race boat to within a few kilogrammes of her original displacement in one third of the time that she was first constructed, was a truly daunting task. Having stated their aim to return to the Volvo Ocean Race for the penultimate leg of the race starting from Lisbon in June, Team Vestas Wind had their work cut out to deliver on their promise.

Here’s our video on the monster project.

See April 15 Issue of YW for the full feature on the task of the rebuild.