Volvo Ocean Race- Chris Nicholson Interview - Part 3 - On the Atoll
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com on 18 Dec 2014
Team Vestas Wind aground on Cargados Carajos Shoals. Unloading at low tide and into the liferaft Brian Carlin - Team Vestas Wind
Final part of a three part, 80 minute, interview with Team Vestas Wind skipper, Chris Nicholson on the wrecking of the Volvo Ocean Race yacht on an idyllic atoll in the South Indian Ocean during the night of November 29. In this part, Nicholson tells what happened once the crew stepped aboard the local coastguard boat just after dawn, and subsequent trips back to the wreck. He also looks at the chances of the campaign getting back on the water.
If you missed Part 1
click here and Part 2 can be read by
clickong here
The coastguard arrived soon after dawn in 20ft open fiberglass boats. One was a coastguard and the other a local fisherman. Just eight people live on nearby islands. Most are fishermen.
Nicholson says he does not have a lot of memories of the first day, aside from making a lot of phone calls.
'When we went back to the boat mid-next morning we were amazed as to where she had moved from where we had got off to where she was now. On low tide it was relatively safe to get gear off (the tidal range is 0.8metre), and we had a small wind at low tide to remove the gear, and we spent the next two days doing the same.
'First items to come off were all the pollutants or contaminates. Then we tried to remove everything in order of value.
'I knew we weren’t going to get the boat off in the first 15-20 minutes after we hit. I didn’t have a clear idea of the damage but thought it was going to be substantial.
'During the course of the night we took a massive beating and I thought it very unlikely that the boat would ever sail again.
In a picture taken in a flyover the next day, Vestas Wind is sitting high on the reef with her bow well supported and rig still intact. Nicholson explains that the bow is so high is because the stern is buried deeply into the reef. 'The back is sitting down on the reef. The first part of the boat on the rocks is the keel frame. The bow is a long way up in the air – maybe 10-15 metres.
'The aft deck of the boat is sitting directly on the rocks.
'The boat wasn’t deteriorating too badly on the days that we went out to her because she was pushed up higher on the reef. But the next big storm will do a lot of damage, which is why we are trying to get out there as quickly as we can.'
Boat not repairable
Returning to the boat over the next two and half days, the crew were able to get into the boat on the low tide. 'There is no boat from the traveler bulkhead aft. It is all completely missing as such. There is a lot of damage down the starboard side where the boat is resting on the reef.
'I don’t think the boat is repairable at all. Part of that is the location in the world, it is extremely remote and the boat is damaged more as each tide comes and goes.'
'We’re still considering if it is viable to build a new boat.
'Vestas are trying as hard as they can to get back into the race, but we still don’t have a clear answer on that, and if it is possible.'
The program to build the seven Volvo 65’s is unique in that the boats are one design and were built across four European yards. The tooling is all in place to pop out an eighth boat. But even with that head-start it is a big task to commission an accelerated building program. The fit-out of a new boat is made easier given that there are complete sets of spares for the race fleet, including spars and sails.
On paper, the starting point for Team Vestas Wind 2 is a lot further down the track than would normally be the case in such a situation. Rejoining a race of this type, having wrecked one boat, and completing remaining part of the course, would be a unique feat in yachting history.
'There are issues in terms of labour and material. Neil Cox (shore team manager) and Volvo have been looking at it hard, and we have to make that call within two weeks. Otherwise it won’t happen', says Nicholson.
Happy to restart
Nicholson says he has no qualms about restarting in a race that they can never win. 'It would be great for the team to get back on its feet. We can’t win the race overall, but we can still do a lot of good, and deliver the team messages that Vestas want in terms of wind energy and climate change. I’d love to be able to go back. We have had massive support on all this, and to be able to repay a little of that would be worth the work.'
The Volvo 65 is also unique in that the boats were designed and built to last two round the world races. The current fleet and design, along with new boats, will be used again for the 2017-18 event. That makes the rebuild situation more viable, given the boats are insured, and Volvo Ocean Race need to replace the boat for the next race at least.
Nicholson agrees that the situation is more viable if Vestas elects to stay in, as lead sponsor, for the next edition of the race, as well as completing the 2014-15 event.
'At the moment it is hard to look past what needs to be done just to get back in this race, and there is a lot of goodwill and commitment to try and do it.
Immediate management of the program is now being run by Neil Cox and the shore team. ‘We are still functioning as a team, albeit without a boat. There is a lot of work being done to see if we can get back in the race. Neil is still in Abu Dhabi. We are still trying to work out when we can get out to Mauritius and clean up the boat from there.
'Removal of the boat will be done by a third party as such. But Neil Cox is still key to that as am I. Neil is still fully involved with looking at the option of a new boat. We will use one of the groups that built the original batch of boats. That possible new build is yet to be decided.
'I can’t stress strongly enough how all parties want to do this restart. There are no individuals or companies holding it back. The main question is can it be done?
'I sit back and look at all the good capable people involved and everyone has the capability to do it and think that it can happen. But we still have to make the business decision on it in the next 7-10 days.
Chances slim to grim
Nicholson gives the team a 40-50% chance of getting back in the race, at this stage. ‘But that diminishes with every day that passes. It is very tight', he adds.
He rates the chances of starting in South America or USA as being 'very optimistic'.
'These are still a complex boat, but the guys are still trying to work out what is viable and what isn’t.
Having done all their initial reports and enquiries, the crew have all gone back to their homes for Christmas and will return to Abu Dhabi on December 29, for a final decision on the future.
'That will be when we sit down as a team, and not so much update, but give a lot of feedback on the safety equipment we used. The only discussions we have had since the accident have been around the safety equipment we had and what you would do next time.
[Sorry, this content could not be displayed]
Asked what exactly he would have done differently, Nicholson responds: 'As Wouter said, we should have zoomed in on the area more. That is as plain as day for us, now.'
'That is what makes it so hard to understand why it didn’t get done.
'After that we were not happy, but we think the situation was handled quite well in regards to how we got the boat organised, how we got ourselves organised and how we got off the boat.
'We are all very risk conscious, especially Wouter and myself. There is no more to this story than it was a simple mistake, which we are all still struggling to understand how it occurred. The simple mistake of not zooming in on a piece of what we thought was clear water.
'We had the electronic charts. All were functioning properly, it just wasn’t zoomed in to see the detail.
'The fact is that we believed there was 40 metres of depth, and there wasn’t.'
[Sorry, this content could not be displayed]
If you want to link to this article then please use this URL: www.sail-world.com/130006