Mirabaud. Image copyright Th.Martinez/Sea&Co.
by Bernard Schopfer
The Race Committee for the Barcelona World Race was informed of Mirabaud’s dismasting at 5.46pm this evening. The yacht skippered by Dominque Wavre (SUI) and Michèle Paret (FRA) had been sailing in difficult conditions since this morning, with strong headwinds and rough seas. During his daily radio transmission at 2pm, Dominique Wavre stated that the wind was strong (but not storm force) and the seas were making life very difficult.
At 5.40pm he informed his shore team of the breakage during a very brief radio transmission made under extremely difficult conditions. “We are not injured,” he reassured the head of his shore team, Magali Paret, before returning on deck to secure the different sections of the broken spar; at the time of writing this operation is still underway.
Mirabaud’s current position is 650 nautical miles east of Argentina and 450 miles north of the Falkland Isles. The weather is bad with two new deep low pressure systems expected over the coming hours.
Principal Race Officer, Denis Horeau, has informed the MRCC (Maritime Rescue and Coordination Center) of the incident and the rescue services are closely following Mirabaud’s situation.
Further information will be distributed as soon as possible.
Mirabaud
Barcelona World Race
