NEWS

Overnight misadventures at the Volvo Ocean Race

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The events of the last two nights have tickled the nerves of the crews going through the first stage of the Volvo Ocean Race. Hong Kong-based Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag were at the centre of the action, followed a day later by the American Vestas 11th Hour Racing team.

Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag started Tuesday with a sudden break of the front sail.

Fortunately the only cause of the accident was a dropped pin. The team managed to get their sails repaired in no time and temporarily saved fourth place in the race, but by midday they were already half a mile behind the Dongfeng Race Team.

Last night the members of the leading team of Vestas 11th Hour Racing got additional portion of adrenaline when a hose of their boat became detached from the water ballast tank and 800 liters of water, meant to stabilize the boat, started to sink it.

The skipper became aware of the problem when the vessel's performance began to plummet. The fault was quickly identified and repaired.

The American crew kept the key position and now leads the fleet with a 12-mile lead over their nearest rival MAPFRE. Simeon Thienpont's notorious Team AkzoNobel is in third place and is catching on the heels of the Spanish team.

Fourth still is Dongfeng Race Team they keep decreasing the gap to the leaders of the race leaving Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag further behind. Team Brunel and Turn the Tide on Plastic are within 33 miles of the favourite to finish sixth.

Less than 600 miles remain for the boats to sail to Lisbon, Portugal, where a second port race awaits them on November 3. The next leg of the round-the-world race will start on November 5, when the teams will circumnavigate the African continent to reach Cape Town.

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