Team Vestas Wind arrives in Lisbon ready to rejoin Volvo Ocean Race

by Sail-World.com NZL on 27 May 2015 In the early morning of Wednesday 27th October 2015, Team Vestas Wind made the final journey by road from the port of Setu´bal to Lisbon, accompanying their Volvo Ocean 65, the “Vestas Wind” to the Portuguese stopover.

After running aground on the Cargados Carajos shoals in the Indian Ocean during Leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015, Team Vestas Wind’s boat was transported to Italy where it was rebuilt in just four months.

On the 22nd May 2015, Team Vestas Wind’s rebuilt boat checked out of her temporary home in the Alps at Persico Marine, embarking on a land and sea journey to Lisbon. After an overnight trip to the port of Savona, the blue boat boarded a Grimaldi Lines vessel en route to Setu´bal, located south of Lisbon.

In the final stages of her journey before arriving in the Portuguese capital, the boat was transported just over 50km by road, crossing the Vasco de Gama Bridge (the largest bridge in Europe) across the Tagus river.

With eleven days to go until the start of Leg 8, Team Vestas Wind and their Volvo Ocean 65 have arrived in the Lisbon race village ahead of schedule. Final preparations, including the reassembly of the keel and rig, are now underway on land as the Team prepares to return to the water for the first time ahead of the weekend of racing (4th-7th June).

“We’ve been waiting for this day to arrive for some time. It’s a testament to all those involved in the rebuild to have the boat and team almost back in race mode,” remarked Team Vestas Wind skipper Chris Nicholson. “It’s a true story of coming together to make things work, and we’re all motivated and in good shape to get back out on the water and finish what we started. These extra days’ preparations will help us become as competitive as we can be for the in-port and final legs of the Race.”

Commercial Director of Team Vestas Wind and Vice President of Global Marketing at Vestas, Mirella Vitale, added: “It’s a great achievement for Vestas and Team Vestas Wind to be where we are today. We’ve lived a different race that we originally envisioned, but we knew that our story could not end on that reef.'

'We thank our fellow teams for their generosity and sportsmanship by providing seats for our guests on their boats while our boat was being repaired. We have worked hard with our many stakeholders – including Persico Marine, La Molisana Trasporti SRL and Niels Winter A/S with Grimaldi Lines who helped us make it here – to re-join the race in Lisbon”

Team Vestas Wind expressed their thanks to all stakeholders who supported their efforts to re-join the Race, helping the Team make the seemingly impossible, possible. The Team has invited everyone to visit the Lisbon race village to see the boat and partake in our ongoing activities.