Only three days later his departure the Austrian navigator Norbert Sedlacek was facing mainsail damage . While sailing close to Ireland, the strong wind tore off one of his headsails, before hitting the rigging heavily and ending up under the hull around the keel and rudders
The skipper was able to release the sail, thus limiting the damage, but decided to stop and assess the situation. He decided to go to Les Sables-d'Olonne, where he arrived on Monday 29 July to check the condition of the boat and diagnose the necessary repair time
At 1500, the Open60AAL was again moored to the pontoon of the Vendée Globe and the crew on site to inspect the entire rigging and appendages that had suffered during the bad weather. Finally, it turns out that the boat was lying down and the rigging suffered: cracks at the spreader joints and the beginning of the tearing off of the balcony. If the boat's structure remains intact, for safety reasons and considering that they do not have time to reach the Northwest Passage in time, the team preferred to postpone the Ant Artic Lab project to 2020.
Let's hope that one day the navigator and his 60-foot prototype made of volcanic rock fibre, balsa wood and biocompatible epoxy will be able to carry out this circumnavigation.
