TeamVodafoneSailing sets new Multihull record for Noumea Race
by Suellen Hurling on 5 Jun 2012
Team Vodafone Sailing - Evolution Sails Sail Noumea Suellen Hurling
At 20:59:50 hours ZST on Tuesday 5 June 2012, the Orma 60 Team Vodafone Sailing, skipped by Simon Hull, crossed the finish line in Noumea, New Caledonia to set a new multihull race record in the Evolution Sails Sail Noumea race.
The new record stands at 3 days 6 hours 59 minutes and 50 seconds.
'The last five hours have been character building to say the least,' said an exhausted yet excited Simon Hull as he finally returned to solid ground. 'It was like pulling teeth, I have never been becalmed for that long before and hope to never go through that again!' The team were forced to an almighty halt when the conditions completely glassed out off the coast of the Lagoon entry into Noumea.
At the required call in to Cercle Nautique Caledonien, boat captain Stuart MacKinven said the race was great but the last few hours were painful. 'We finally got some breeze, about 15 knots from the west with just seven miles to go which pushed us over the line,' said MacKinven.
The new multihull record sheds some positive light on the race which had a tough last 24 hours with Beau Geste being forced to head to Norfolk Island. All crew are now heading to various ports around the world with a few staying behind to assess the damage.
The next boats are due to arrive within 48 hours with the lead boats in the main pack being V5, Akatea and Kia Kaha.
V5 is currently leading on IRC and Akatea on PHRF.
The crew from Team Vodafone Sailing are being welcomed by a team of volunteers from Cercle Nautique Caledonien who are eager to see them, and the rest of the fleet, safely in French waters.
41 TVS finishing the race
More to come.
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