A helicopter hovers above the upturned Franck Cammas team yacht Groupama, which capsized off Dunedin. Photo / Supplied
The stricken French yacht Groupama III is being towed towards Dunedin where it is expected to arrive tomorrow night.
The trimaran's 10 crew were plucked to safety uninjured on Monday afternoon after their craft overturned in heavy seas 80 nautical miles (145km) off the Otago coast.
They had
been taking part in the Jules Verne round-the-world yacht race when the yacht capsized.
As soon as the men were safely back on dry land their focus switched to salvaging the $14.8 million yacht.
Nine of the crew left Dunedin about 8pm Tuesday on board the 1000hp salvage boat Clan McLeod, to begin a salvage mission expected to take several days.
The 10th crew member stayed on shore to liaise with the racing team in France.
The men spent yesterday salvaging the broken parts of the yacht and made unsuccessful attempts to right it.
The vessel was now under tow, bound for Dunedin.
A spokesman for the Rescue Coordination Centre NZ said reports received from the Clan McLeod through maritime radio this afternoon confirmed that it was about 124km off Dunedin.
The report said the trimaran was still upturned.
The weather was good and at this stage the Clan McLeod's expected time of arrival in Dunedin was Friday evening.
Once in Dunedin it would be examined by a technical team which had been dispatched to New Zealand to investigate the hull breakage that led to the capsize.
Groupama III, a futuristic-looking single-masted trimaran skippered by Frenchman Franck Cammas, left the English Channel on its bid for the Jules Verne Trophy 24 days ago.
The trimaran is 32m long, with a beam of 22.55m.
- NZPA
