Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson, onboard Aviva. Image copyright Aviva Ocean Racing.
by Kelly Russell
Twelve days in to the Transat Jacques Vabre race, British duo Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson, onboard Aviva, have alerted the race office that due to the power shortage onboard they intend to collect a part to repair their faulty generator.
Caffari and Thompson discovered a problem with the generator on Aviva over a week ago and, despite continuous attempts, have been unable to repair it. The generator is a vital piece of equipment, responsible for charging the batteries which run the onboard systems including the wind instruments and water-maker. Without the ability to charge, Caffari and Thompson have had to be economical with their use of power but as things stand would not be able to continue racing to the finish line in Costa Rica.
In her diary, received this morning, Caffari commented:
“The jobs list continues to be reduced and so far has avoided being added to for the last few days. There are continuing concerns for our power and ability to generate it and we have been running on an absolute minimum each day. So my time for computer power is over for another day!”
The Aviva Ocean Racing shore crew has requested permission for Caffari and Thompson to collect a spare part to repair the generator, which has been granted by the race office in accordance with the rules of the race. The collection is forecast to take place off the northern tip of St Lucia, most likely between afternoon and evening this Sunday.
Despite the problems onboard, Caffari and Thompson have continued to race hard, maintaining seventh position and close proximity to Veolia Environnement in sixth. With the prospect of losing some miles when slowing down to collect the generator part, the pair will be fighting to gain as much as they can on their closest rivals in the meantime.
At 10h00 this morning, Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson onboard Aviva were situated in seventh position, 748 miles behind race leader Safran.
Aviva Ocean Racing
Transat Jacques Vabre
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