Examining Hugo Boss' sails in the Falkland Islands. Image copyright Alex Thomson Racing.
by Andy Meiklejohn
All is well here in Port Stanley, Falkland islands. Yesterday was a busy day getting the sails unrolled and ready for Doyles today [Saturday]. We are now [back] out on a mooring as the Northerlies are not great for being on the dock. I have the track repair underway and will glue it on in about an hour.
Andy Meiklejohn on board HUGO BOSS in Port Stanley harbour, Falkland Islands. Image copyright Alex Thomson Racing.
Things are a little slower than we would like with an established marine infrastructure not existing but we are making do and will work frantically to hopefully leave Monday morning.
As for the rest of the island, England vs Ireland in the 6 nations seems to be the talk of the town, “come and watch the next world champions” was the main comment from the Vic last night.
We all desperately wish we were still sailing but for now we have great help and must focus on our repairs.
On Thursday, Wouter Verbraak talked to Andi Robertson in Barcelona about the arrival of HUGO BOSS in the Falklands for essential repairs:
From Wouter Verbraak on Tuesday, 15th March:
After 48 hrs of intense hard work, drama, narrowly escaping stranding, and lots and lots of will power...
... we are totally wacked, exhausted, frustrated and gutted. There is no other way around it. We will have to go to Port Stanley to make a technical stop and carry out further repairs on the sails. As we went through the sails with our repairs, more and more holes and weak spots became obvious. We don't have enough materials on the boat to fix it all.
We were determined to make this a non-stop race, but good seamanship requires we carry out proper repairs and make sure we get to the finish in Barcelona safely.
Although we want nothing more than to put our exhausted bodies to sleep in a good bed, winds are too strong to enter the harbour tonight, but we are hopeful, that they will decrease tomorrow enough to safely get in.
Note from SailRaceWin: Both Andy and Wouter have repeatedly Tweeted their thanks to the Falkland Islands community for their great assistance to HUGO BOSS. Amongst many who have helped them, Andy made special mention of Shane Clarke today.
Wouter Verbraak (NED) & Andy Meiklejohn (NZL)
on board Hugo Boss in the Barcelona World Race
for Alex Thomson Racing
