Delta Lloyd reaches Brazil

Now the race is on for Killian Bushe and his team to repair the boat prior to the Rio In Port race

On 12 March just after midnight, the Delta Lloyd VO70 arrived in Rio de Janeiro/Brazil. The Dutch/Irish VO70 spent almost a month on board of the Rio de Janeiro, a 286m container ship registered in Hamburg-Süd. On the early morning of 11 March, the German vessel docked in the Port of Sepetiba, about 80 nautical miles from Rio. Delta Lloyd continued her trip on the water under engine as her shore crew waited for her in the Marina da Gloria.

While the Volvo Ocean Race village is being built up and the fleet battles the Southern Ocean, Team Delta Lloyd settled down in the Brazilian coastal city. The base erected slowly next to Telefonica Black. Irish boat builder Killian Bushe and his seven co-workers prepared the repairs to the hull. They removed the peel-ply from the new bow section and built their workshop over the next days. Team Delta Lloyd flew in nine shore crew members, under the leadership of Technical Manager Mike Danks (NZL), three sailors and MCM Sander Pluijm (NED).

At 2 PM local time, the brand new crane came into action. Delta Lloyd was berthed between two luxurious motor yachts, whose owners watched the whole show carefully. At about 3:30 PM, the Delta Lloyd was on her cradle alongside Telefonica Black. Mike Danks: "We are now putting together the scaffolding and we will wash the bottom of the hull, so we can start working on our job list tomorrow morning."

The repairs are expected to take up 12 days. The real deadline is 4 April, the day of the next In-Port Race.

In addition to title sponsor Delta Lloyd, the Dutch/Irish syndicate is also supported by Chieftain Group, Tommy Hilfiger, OHRA Verzekeringen, Port of Rotterdam, Discovery Channel, Weather News and Hemels van der Hart.