Vestas 11th Hour Racing's Mark Towill has shared an account of the fatal crash his vessel was involved in during the Volvo Ocean Race. Photo: Martin Keruzore/Volvo Ocean Race
Vestas 11th Hour Racing's Mark Towill has shared an account of the fatal crash his vessel was involved in during the Volvo Ocean Race. Photo: Martin Keruzore/Volvo Ocean Race
Vestas 11th Hour racing rejoined the Volvo Ocean Race fleet last week for the first time since being involved in a fatal crash in Hong Kong in January. Christopher Reive looks at what happened to force the yacht from the race.
Vestas 11th Hour Racing had sailed over 6,000 nautical miles since leaving Melbourne for the fourth leg of the Volvo Ocean Race. The landing point in Hong Kong was just 30 away.
It was around 1am local time on January 20; a dark, stormy night with the wind blowing about20 knots. As land drew nearer, the volume of local vessels on the ocean increased.
Vestas' team director Mark Towill was at the yacht's navigation station below deck, monitoring the radar and automatic identification system (AIS). Three other vessels were shown in their vicinity, and Towill communicated their positions to the crew working above.
The yacht approached a well-lit fishing vessel. With a confirmed visual on the boat, Vestas headed starboard (right) to keep clear. Towill communicated the range and bearing to the crew above, who confirmed they were crossing the fishing vessel.
Vestas 11th Hour Racing had podium finishes in the first three legs of the Volvo Ocean Race. Photo: Jesus Renedo/Volvo Ocean Race
But before the anticipated cross, Vestas was sent into a spin.
"There was an unexpected collision," Towill said. "So much happened so fast. The impact from the collision spun us into a tack to port that we weren't prepared for."
Everyone aboard Vestas who was off watch came on deck – safe and accounted for. However upon checking the bow (front) – where the contact was made – they saw a hole in the port-side (left), and water had begun flowing in.
They heeled (tilted) the boat to starboard to keep the damaged part out of the water and used their emergency pump to empty the bow of what had already flowed in.
After 20 minutes of getting their vessel under control, the crew headed back to the location of the collision. Upon arrival, several people on a nearby fishing vessel were shining lights to a point on the water.
"Our thoughts and condolences are with the families and all those affected by this tragic situation." "[...] We are grateful for the overwhelming support we’ve had during this very tough time." More from Mark and Charlie: https://t.co/rydM7jrPHmpic.twitter.com/EU50qseIFV
"Our first thought was that they could be looking for someone, so we immediately started a search and rescue," Towill said.
Navigator Simon Fisher immediately issued a mayday distress call over VHF radio on behalf of the vessel they collided with, but communication was difficult. The amount of people on the VHF channel and the fact few spoke English made it hard for the Vestas crew to talk with the people they needed to.
They were able to relay messages through a cable laying vessel though, and the vessel were sent their guard boat to aid in the search and rescue.
After some time, they spotted a person in the ocean.
"The guard boat from the cable layer provided assistance and every effort was made from all parties involved in the search and rescue," Towill said. "We were finally able to successfully recover the casualty after several attempts. When we got him aboard, our medics started CPR."
Mark Towill at the wheel of Vestas 11th Hour Racing during a practice race in Auckland. Photo / Christopher Reive
The Hong Kong Marine Rescue Coordination Centre was contacted soon after, and the casualty was air-lifted to a nearby hospital. Medical staff were unable to revive him.
After the search and rescue procedure was complete, the crew ensured their yacht was still secure and informed the race they would retire from the leg and motor to shore.
The damage from the collision cost Vestas the next two legs of the race. The vessel was shipped to Auckland ahead of the sixth leg for repairs.
A new bow piece was made from a mould by Italian marine technology company Persico and transported to Hobsonville, Auckland, where Yachting Developments replaced the damaged area.
The yacht was relaunched in Auckland last week and the crew rejoined the other six of the fleet for the in-port race on Saturday, in which they finished fourth.
Vestas 11th Hour Racing was among the Volvo Ocean Race fleet for the first time in almost two months last week. Photo / Christopher Reive
Kiwi sailor Tony Mutter, who was competing in the Volvo Ocean Race aboard Vestas, praised the work done to get the yacht back on the water.
"It's been good getting it all back together. The guys have done an amazing job. All the systems work and have been checked off and we're back into our regular routine," Mutter said.
"I went in there and you expect to see a little bit of patch work and that sort of thing on the inside and there's just nothing. All those involved did an amazing job."
Vestas 11th Hour Racing's resident Kiwi Tony Mutter. Photo: Martin Keruzore/Volvo Ocean Race
Mutter was competing in his sixth edition of the race around the world, first taking part in the 1997-98 race on Swedish Match. He said all the Vestas crew could do now was simply climb back on the horse and get back to work.
Through the first three legs of the race, Vestas were in a tie for second place with DongFeng Race Team on 23 points. They were yet to miss a podium and had a win in the opening leg to their name. They were also in second place in the fourth leg when they were forced to retire.
"It was so disappointing because, you know, we sailed like 99.9 per cent of the leg – 6,000 and something miles – and couldn't finish the last 30 under sail," Mutter said. "That was a little hard, but that's yacht racing, those things happen."
As a result of the crash, the Volvo Ocean Race commissioned an independent review into ocean racing at night in areas of high vessel traffic density to establish what steps can be taken to mitigate risk going forward.
The findings of the review were due to be released by June.
