Volvo Ocean Race sets up independent inquiry into Vestas Wind disaster
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com on 17 Dec 2014
Team Vestas Wind on Cargados Carajos Shoals. Brian Carlin - Team Vestas Wind
Volvo Ocean Race have announced from their headquarters in Alicante, Spain that an independent report has been commissioned into the grounding of Team Vestas Wind’s boat on a reef in the Indian Ocean.
The report will be released during the Auckland stopover.
The incident happened on November 29 on Leg 2 of the current 12th edition. The nine crew escaped safely after suffering minor injuries. The boat, Vestas Wind, ran aground on the Cargados Carajos Shoals (St. Brandon), 240 nautical miles northeast of Mauritius.
A panel, will be chaired by Rear Admiral Chris Oxenbould (Rtd), is to provide the Volvo Ocean Race with its final report by January 31, 2015.
Volvo Ocean Race intends to make the report publicly available to make sure its findings benefit the whole sailing world and not only the race. This is scheduled for no later than during the Auckland stopover (February 27-March 15).
It can draw upon a wide range of input from, among others, crew members of competing boats in the event, members of the race committee, electronic chart providers, and the emergency services organisers.
Rear Admiral Oxenbould is a former deputy chief of the Australian Navy and an experienced ocean racing yachtsman with a particular expertise in navigation. He is also the chairman of the Yachting Australia National Safety Committee.
Ocean navigational expert, Stan Honey who won the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06 as navigator onboard ABN AMRO ONE, and Chuck Hawley who serves as the chairman of the U.S. Sailing Safety at Sea Committee, will assist the Rear Admiral Oxenbould on the report.
The panel has been requested to examine:
- What happened and why Vestas Wind ran aground
- Consider all the Race’s administrative procedures and documentation in place for the race
- Review the emergency management procedures in place and their effectiveness in the incident
- Make findings and recommendations as to any changes to the race rules, procedures, administration, documentation, boats or equipment that might serve to prevent a possible recurrence
The Team Vestas Wind crew and sponsors are collaborating fully with the panel’s investigations.
The team have already been very open with the navigational errors they made which have been covered in Part 1 of a three part series currently running Sail-World.com
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