After a curtailed attempt to break the clockwise round the world sailing speed record last Autumn, Jean Luc van den Heede is preparing his boat Adrien for a new departure planned for the autumn of 2002.

Having arrived back in La Rochelle, Adrien is currently undergoing structural repair work to rectify the keel movement problem which was caused by uneven distribution of forces of the keel on the hull.

Van den Heede, who was at the yard during the repair work commented: ‘It was real hard work dismantling the keel has proved much more difficult than we expected. The keel is secured to the hull by three shafts which hold it in the well. The lower two were fairly easy to remove but we had a great deal of difficulty with the large shaft at the top.”

The hull and keel have now been transported to another yard for repair and the boat should be on the water again by the end of March.