The replacement rigging fittings for the eight boats, produced in Germany and finished in Tyneside, have now arrived in Hawaii along with four riggers from the UK. Despite being booked onto one of the cancelled flights out of Heathrow’s Terminal 5, the final rigger arrived onsite in the early hours of the morning to join the team preparing to work on the Clipper 68 rigs.
The team has spent today inspecting the rigs and preparing the ground work for the task ahead and will begin work early tomorrow morning on the first eight boats. Work has already begun on the remaining section of westernaustralia2011.com’s mast which was craned off the boat yesterday in preparation for the arrival of Nick Wellspring from Atlantic Spars early this morning. He will be overseeing the re-build and the installation of the masts on westernaustralia2011.com and Durban 2010 and Beyond.
The consignment of three mast sections and standing rigging for the two dismasted boats along with the swaging machine required to apply the new rigging fittings on the eight boats is currently in Los Angeles after being freighted from Luxembourg last weekend. The consignment has cleared customs in Los Angeles and is currently scheduled to leave LAX on a flight that will arrive in Hawaii at 0600 local on Wednesday 2 April.
Peters and May has advised that the plane has a technical fault that is being repaired. The aircraft will have to be recertified for safety reasons before it flies and we have been informed that this could lead to a delay of up to six hours in the plane taking off. The final consignment containing spreaders for the two dismasted boats left the UK yesterday and is expected to arrive in Hawaii tomorrow.
The crew of the eight boats have been reporting back to Ala Wai Harbour today to prepare for the restart which is scheduled to take place between 3-5 April. The pontoons have been hives of activity as the crews, refreshed from their hiatus in Hawaii, get back to the business of preparing their boats for Race 8 from Honolulu to Santa Cruz.
Waikiki Yacht Club is hosting an Aloha party this evening with their signature mai tai cocktail to welcome them all back.
The crews of Durban 2010 and Beyond and westernaustralia2011.com are due to report back on Thursday 3 April.
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