Keel structure damage

This time, it is Delta Lloyd in the Volvo Ocean Race

A broken keel structure has finished Team Delta Lloyd's chances in the third leg of the Volvo Ocean Race. The Dutch/Irish VO70 that was formerly ABN AMRO One, winner of the last Volvo Ocean Race, was halfway the Bay of Bengal on its way to Singapore, as the port side carbon structure around the ram broke. The incident occurred at 19:30 hours local time today. Skipper Roberto Bérmudez de Castro and his crew are safe. The boat isn’t taking water and is continuing to sail and at present hasn't withdrawn from the Volvo Ocean Race's third leg.

Navigator Matt Gregory recounts what happened:

"At 7:30 this evening, we were sailing upwind in 20 knots of wind - pounding away in a short steep sea state with our J1 headsail and a reef in the main. All of a sudden, there was a massive breaking sound from inside the boat.

One of the hydraulic rams, that cants the keel from side to side, had ripped off the bulkhead that connects it to the boat. Immediately we put our safety plan into place.

Unsure of extent of the structural damage and integrity of the boat, everyone moved to their areas. We took down our headsail. The water pumps were deployed and put on standby. Survival suits and grab bags were pulled from the safety locker in case we were sinking and needed to abandon the boat. I called the race office to tell them our position and to be on standby in case we needed assistance from another boat. I also worked on finding ports that we could take refuge. The closest ones were 400 miles away. Meanwhile the guys on deck limped the boat along at three knots.

The next phone calls were to the designer, Juan Kouyoumdjian to help us assess the implications of the structural failure. He helped us determine that we could continue to sail, with our keel locked in the centre position by using the starboard hydraulic ram.

Right now, we are sailing with our little J4 headsail and a reef in the main towards the northern tip of Indonesia, which also happens to be the location of the scoring gate.

Using the sails to heel the boat helps to reduce the slamming loads on the hull. We are making decent headway at about nine knots of boat speed. Over the next two days, we will work with our shore team to figure out how we are going to get to Singapore.

It was a very scary moment onboard, but it was great to see the entire team handle the emergency in a calm and professional way. We are fortunate to be able to continue east towards Singapore. However, every wave that we crash into is a bit more worrisome than normal. Hopefully, we can get the boat safely to the Malacca Straights in one piece. For now, we are happy to be safe, which is always our first priority."

Gregory reckons they should be able to sail at 7 knots.

Meanwhile, Edwin O’Connor (IRL) is leading the process of fixing the keel.

Media Crew Member Sander Pluijm gave his take on what had happened two hours earlier: “We heard a big bang. Johnny and I thought the mast had come down. Everybody was shocked and we started searching below deck. It did not take long before we found the problem; the port side carbon structure that holds the ram was broken. At the moment, the guys are consulting external expertise to secure the keel.” It is too early to know the exact cause of the damage, but it is likely to be a failure of the hydraulic system. Pluym says explicitly that the race has not been abandoned yet: “The seal is still on the engine. We are looking into the possibilities of going the nearest harbor or to continue towards Singapore, which we prefer.”

Skipper Roberto Bérmudez de Castro was obviously disappointed: “This is incredibly bad luck, but the safety of the crew is my first priority. It is my job to bring them home safely.” The shore team is ready to start fixing the damage, which should enable Team Delta Lloyd to line up for the In-Port Race on 10 January in Singapore.

More photos on page 2...