Gypsy Moth IV repairs underway in Auckland

by Sail-World on 25 May 2006 The historic British Yacht Gypsy Moth IV, is now at the Emirates Team NZ base in Auckland for repairs.

By mid-morning today, work was underway tearing off the plywood that had been used to cover caused by the grounding for six days at the North West corner of the Rangiroa Atoll, part of the Tuamotu Islands in French Polynesia. The interior side of the hull had been patched with concrete which is also being stripped away.

She was unloaded from the Thor Simba late yesterday afternoon and trucked to the Emirates Team NZ base this morning. UKSA's lead skipper, Richard Bagget, is supervising the repair project.

Bob Wilson of Wilson Boatbuilders has been appointed project manager for the reconstruction which will proceed 24 x 7 to meet the original departure date from New Zealand of 23rd June.

Chris Fewtrell the New Zealand co-ordinator for Gypsy Moth IV explained that they expect to have a launch date of around the 20th June, allowing for some sea-trialing before the sail to Sydney.

Sir Peter Blake’s son James is expected to be aboard for the Trans-Tasman crossing. The sailing program is designed to have Sir Francis Chichester’s yacht back in UK on the occasion of her 40th anniversary of the solo circumnavigation.

Damage to the Gypsy Moth’s hull is confined to the mid starboard side, around the waterline where she drove up on the reef.

The local islanders were very quick to react says Fewtrell, shipping a bulldozer over by barge and then rolling that out over the reef to the stranded yacht. She was lifted one end at a time and the packing timber slid underneath, after which she was patched and then slid back to deeper water, where she was towed to Tahiti. The original plan called for her to be sailed to New Zealand, rather than shipped.

Fewtrell says they have had an amazing amount of support in New Zealand with Emirates Team New Zealand being quick to allow the use of their base and facilities. Vodafone has also come on board assisting with communications. ASB Bank are in the process of setting up a NZ donations facility, which should be online early next week to accept NZ donations to the project. A fundraising dinner is also planned closer to the launch date.

For further information on this ambitious project, plus full details of the grounding and recovery, see: www.gipsymoth.org

For more photos on Gypsy Moth IV see: http://www.kiwispy.com/PhotoGallery/GipsyMothAlbum1/