by Anne-Charlotte Meyer (in translation by SailRaceWin)
On Tuesday, 15th February at 20h25 (French time), Jean-Pierre Dick called Denis Horeau, the Race Director of the Barcelona World Race to signal his intention to make a technical stop in Wellington.
An hour beforehand, while Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron maneuvered to reef the mainsail, two of the mainsail sliding cars in the mast broke. A first one had already had given way as they came down the Atlantic (shortly after the pit stop in Recife) so that the all the replacement sliding cars that were on board Virbac-Paprec 3 had already been used. Now, without these pieces that link the mainsail to the mast of the boat, it impossible to sail. This is the reason that the two sailors decided to stop. This decision, intervening in an unexpected way, the technical team of Virbac-Paprec 3 will not have time to go to New Zealand. Luc Talbourdet, the project boss, already was on the spot to greet the passage of the boat and it was decided to call upon Luc Bartissol, the former technical person in charge of the team (who had built Paprec-Virbac 2) and who lives today in New Zealand. The local network of suppliers having worked in the build of Virbac-Paprec 3 will be, equally, of very great assistance.
Aside from the replacement of the sliding cars, this stop of a minimum of 48 hours (a length imposed by the rules of the race, counting from when the boat is moored to the quay), will offer the opportunity to repair other parts for the race.
At 18h15 UTC, the blue monohull passed Farewell Spit (the entry to the natural canal that separates the island of the North from the island of the South). The boat is expected in Wellington in the night or Wednesday or the early hours of the morning (French time).
JP: "We replaced the two pieces that were broken late in the afternoon. We no longer have spares with which to finish the race and no longer have any confidence in them. We have a sword of Damocles over our heads as they are essential to finish the second half of the Round the World. Without them, one cannot sail. To continue is to take a significant risk. To stop is the better solution, even if this is a difficult decision to take as one has a 48H penalty. We should set off again practically at the same time as our followers. It is a new race that begins, just as it did in Recife! We will not let up..."
Virbac Paprec 3
Barcelona World Race
