Delta Lloyd ashore for two days repairing damage

by Diana Bogaards, Delta Lloyd Media on 6 Oct 2008
On Sunday October 5 2008, the Delta Lloyd was taken out of the water for repairing the damage.

In yesterday’s second In-Port Race, Team Russia’s bow sprit went through the starboard side of the Dutch 70-foot hull. It will take three days to finish all the work, of which the Delta Lloyd will be onshore for two days.

The shore crew will the opportunity to fix other jobs as well. If everything goes according to plan, she will return to the sea on Monday evening October 6th. In that case, the training sessions can be resumed on Wednesday October 8th.

After all the hard work to get her ready for the start of the Volvo Ocean Race, the Delta Lloyd is back onshore. 'We will replace the core material and build it up from both sites', said shore manager Jeff Condell (IRL) about the necessary repairs. 'Senior boat builder Jeremy Thomas will be in charge of this process. We will take the opportunity to do other jobs as well, such as setting the mast properly. The engineer will come in on Monday.' He will finalize the canting keel hydraulics. 'This needs a dry test first and then we have to repeat this under pressure, so while sailing.' The Delta Lloyd is meant to float again on Monday evening or Tuesday morning.

Because of this unexpected situation, the Dutch/Irish syndicate could not line up for today’s Pro Am Race. However, it is exempted from a penalty of not starting the mandatory race.

Team Delta Lloyd (NED 1), skippered by Ger O’Rourke (IRL), finished sixth overall after the first two In-Port Races of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09. Due to its short preparation, the Dutch/Irish syndicate started off conservatively on Saturday October 4th, which resulted in a last position. However, Team Delta Lloyd managed to beat the Russians in the second race. Today’s battle in the Bay of Alicante commenced with a postponement. The south-eastern breeze was too shifty, so the fleet of eight Volvo Open 70’s started ten minutes after the scheduled time. Telefonica Blue, skippered by Bouwe Bekking, took both bullets and is first on the leader board.

The shore crew worked hard to get the Delta Lloyd to the starting line and they succeeded. On Saturday morning, the Dutch yacht was lined up with its fellow competitors. 'Congratulations, here you are', said VOR-reporter Amanda Blackly to skipper Ger O’Rourke, shortly before leaving the dock. For today’s inshore racing, O’Rourke handed over the helm to Sebastien Col (FRA), helmsman and afterguard of the French America’s Cup Team K-Challenge.

Conservative start
Delta Lloyd’s first start was not too bad, but they dropped back more and more. On the finish line, they were pretty far behind the rest of the fleet. Coach Maurice Paardenkooper: 'We talked about this on beforehand and agreed on taking it easy. We did not want to damage the sails or anything. You have to start carefully and take it from there.' Bowman Ed van Lierde (NED) afterwards on the dock: 'It was a tough day out there, since we did not have much practice as a team.'

Performance driven
By the time the second In-Port race commenced, the breeze had picked up with a few knots. The Russians made a wrong call on the starting line and crashed into the Delta Lloyd. O’Rourke: 'Seb did a good job. He locked in two boats between us and the starting vessel. There was no room and the Russians should have tacked, but they did not do that.' They hit the starboard side of the Dutch VO 70, which caused a hole in the hull. The Russians took their penalty turn and continued the race, like the Delta Lloyd did after a quick emergency repair. The Dutch entry was seventh at the upwind mark and managed to keep that position. Paardenkooper: 'The crew was really competitive. Especially in the last part of the race. They trimmed very well and discussed the possibilities. You could see the drive to perform coming up. I never expected that to happen within such a short period. I also think it will be easier for the boys after some rest, since it has been hard work for them to get here.'

On October 11th, the following crew will race on the first leg to Cape Town:

Ger O’Rourke (IRL), skipper
Stuart Wilson (NZL), watch captain
Stuart Molloy (NZL), watch captain
Gerd-Jan Poortman (NED)
Ed van Lierde (NED)
Bert Schandevyl (BEL)
Matthew Gregory (USA)
Edwin O’Connor (IRL)
Martin Watts (GBR)
Ryan Houston (NZL)
Sander Pluijm (NED), Media Crew Member