Translated 9 ITL has retired from the McIntyre Ocean Globe Race with hull damage.
The current IRC leader of Leg four has been forced to divert to Portugal after a heavy broach in 50 knot gusts slammed them down, reopening previously repaired cracks in their hull around the rudder skeg, causing water ingress.
They are at present approx. 1000 nm SW of Portugal and making for land, with an ETA of Thursday 11 April.
At approx. 05:30 hrs UTC 5 April, OGR race control received a text message from co-skipper Nico Malingri stating that the yacht’s previous rudder skeg repairs were failing with obvious signs of delamination with the original hull.
They had reduced sail and were heading downwind to monitor the situation and assess options – The skipper then called via sat phone at approx. 14:00 hrs UTC to report the complete failure of the previous repairs, resulting in water ingress and hull flexing.
All pumps were ready and while not expected, all preparations to abandon ship were made and all sailing pressure taken off the boat. The weather was moderate 25-30K with 3-4-meter seas. The skipper did not request any assistance at that time.
Translated 9’s retirement from Leg 4 will naturally have a dramatic effect on the leaderboard.
The French legend Pen Duick VI FR (14), skippered by Marie Tabarly, is currently sitting in second in IRC for Leg 4, with another former Whitbread yacht L’Esprit d’équipe breathing down their stern just minutes behind.
