O Canada Heads to Azores for Repairs
16 December 2015 — At 1030UTC Skipper Eric Holden of Canadian Ocean Racing contacted Transat Saint Barths race office to inform the Ocean Masters governing body that he will head to the Azores due to keel issues. Holden’s open 60 O Canada is the third boat in the race to deviate to the Azores for repairs, all with reported keel problems.
Holden first reported suspected issues with the keel in his skipper blog yesterday due to some abnormal noises, but upon further inspection could not determine the issue. Today, Holden describes more prominent problems such as feeling the keel shutter as it moves over waves and a loud cracking sound from what appears to be the keel rams.
“Just after dawn I was doing a b
oat check after a recent broach in a 50kt squall. There had been an issue with the keel rams loosing pressure slowly over time for a while but during this inspection it become evident that the keel was now moving in the for and aft direction. I was only around 100nm from the Azores, so I had to make the very sad decision to head to Horta rather than risk the 1200nm to France with a hurricane force depression approaching,” said Holden after making the official decision to head to port.
Holden is currently 70 nm from the Azores and sustaining 9 knots under a reef 4 mainsail and a torn J3 jib. Safran’s shoreside team has been contacted to assist in damage assessment and repairs upon arrival, as Holden’s underfunded team alone cannot offer the support he needs.
More details to come as the situation develops and a more proper damage assessment is conducted in port. IMOCA rules allow competitors to deviate to port for repairs without being disqualified from racing, with the requirement that once in port the boat must stay for a minimum of 6 hours. So, the race is not yet over for O Canada and skipper Eric Holden.
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Press Contact
Meg Reilly, PR & Partnerships Manager
mreilly@canadianoceanracing.com
+1 908 294 2222
Canadian Ocean Racing
Canadian Ocean Racing (COR) is Canada’s premier offshore racing team. Founded by Eric Holden and Morgen Watson, COR is dedicated to promoting the sport of offshore racing in Canada. COR is using Open 60 O Canada, built in Canada, for an offshore training program and is taking her back on the racing circuit to compete in the IMOCA races, like the Vendee Globe.
The mission of COR is to raise the profile of Canadian offshore racing while building a program to develop the next generation offshore sailors. The team launched its Aspiring Offshore Athletes (AOA) Program in March 2015 in which young Canadian sailors have the opportunity to be mentored and trained by Eric Holden on various offshore passages onboard O Canada. Visit www.canadianoceanracing.com for more information.
Vendee Globe Race
The Vendee Globe is a round-the-world single-handed yacht race, sailed non-stop and without assistance. The race was founded by Philippe Jeantot in 1989, and since 1992 has taken place every four years. The 2016-2017 edition is planned to start on Sunday, 6 November 2016.
As the only single-handed non-stop round-the-world race, the race is a serious test of individual endurance and is regarded by many as the ultimate in ocean racing. www.vendeeglobe.org
IMOCA
Founded in 1991 and recognised by ISAF (International Sailing Federation) since 1998, IMOCA is the class association, which takes care of 60-foot Open monohulls (18.28 metres). With more than twenty skippers signed up, its championship includes two round the world races, a round Europe race and several ocean races. The IMOCA class aims to make ocean racing more international and it brings together ideas about competitions, innovation, human adventure and safety.
