“Unfortunately we hit something at 20 knots of speed and we lost the rudder under the right hull”, explains Giovanni Soldini, skipper of Maserati Multi70. “Luckily we have got one spare with us and it seems there are not too much collateral damage”.
Soldini continues: “This morning we heard a great blow and we immediately realized that the rudder had broken. We get organized to remove the carbon axis that broke just at the exit of the hull, but the remaining piece came out dangerously and went sideways. Fortunately it seems that it did not cause serious damage. Once the axis was removed, we resumed on our route, without a rudder, heading to 230°, towards the center of the high pressure in front of us that will slow us down in the next 24, 36 hours. We will take advantage of these favourable weather conditions to install the new rudder. Then we will head full speed towards Cape Town”.
The incident occurred today in the morning, at the beginning of the tenth day of navigation. Maserati Multi70 is located in the Indian Ocean about 3,000 miles from the Cape of Good Hope. Despite the damage, Giovanni Soldini and his crew (Guido Broggi, Sébastien Audigane, Oliver Herrera Perez and Alex Pella) continue to sail fast in the trade winds (around 25 knots average speed), 587 miles ahead of the record to beat.
Started from Hong Kong on last January 18th, to beat the record set in 2008 by Lionel Lemonchois on board the 100 footer maxi catamaran Gitana 13 (41 days, 21 hours and 26 minutes), the 21.20 meters trimaran Maserati Multi70 must complete the 13000 nautical miles route and cut the finish line under the Queen Elisabeth II bridge over the River Thames before 1 March.
To follow the challenge live, click here to visit the cartography
