Telefonica Blue requests Redress over 'Terrain Closure' in Volvo OR

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World on 31 Mar 2009
Bouwe Bekking, skipper of Telefonica Blue has filed a Request for Redress with the Race Committee over two incidents that occurred at the start of Leg 5 of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Telefonica's claim is that the start area was set in water that was too shallow for the VOR70's to navigate safely.

Media reports at the time stated that Telefonica Blue had struck an uncharted rock.

Telefonica Blue hit an bottom of Fuchan Bay, Qingdao just before the start of Leg 5, while sailing in the starting area. She claims the shoal was uncharted.

She then made the decision to return to harbour to check for damage before starting the 12,300nm leg to Rio de Janeiro.

Bekking then claims that Telefonica Blue was unable to re-enter the harbour at Qingdao for several hours because the water was too shallow, causing further delay.

In the end she started 19hours late. It is not known what amount of redress Bekking is claiming. One of the conditions in claiming redress that it must be through 'no fault of her own' meaning that Telefonica Blue must be able to show that poor seamanship and navigation in this instance was not a contributing factor.

While the yachts would be fitted with depth sounders, these are not forward facing, and it is therefore not possible to avert a 'terrain closure' if the bottom is shoaling suddenly. Or, Telefonica Blue could have hit a piece of debris on the seabed.

It is not known the extent of the redress, if any, that would be given. Normally the time taken for the repair would be sufficient, however in the Whitbread Round the World Race redress was given on the basis of the effect of the time lost and that tehn projected into an on the water position on the basis of weather patterns that would have been encountered, had the competitor been say 19 hours further down the track. With the use of software such as www.predictwind.com!PredictWind and www.iexpedition.org!Expedition, these sort of calculations are relatively simple and accurate. However Telefonica Blue did also sustain some forestay damage which affected her course options and this would complicate any redress calculations.

The Request for Redress is as follows:

Request for Redress

Boat Requesting Redress: Telefonica Azul ESP 12

Represented by: Bouwe Bekking

Telefonica Azul claims that the Race Committee and/or Organising Authority
made an improper action or omission by locating the start line and 2nd
passing mark of the course (mark d) in an area where at least 1 uncharted
shallow area existed.

Telefonica Azul hit one such uncharted shallows that was 0.23 nm from the
start mark (and 2nd passing mark) of the course, prior to the start of Leg 5.
Furthermore, the Race Committee and/or Organising Authority failed to
supply a port with adequate depth to allow Telefonica Azul back into the
harbour. This resulted in a 3 hour delay in getting back to the marina to begin
repairs resulting from the grounding.

Delays due to the grounding and the delay in returning to port resulted in
Telefonica Azul starting leg 5 approximately 19 hours after the start signal.
This delay had direct impact on Telefonica Azul’s position at the New Zealand
scoring gate and at the finish.

Signed: Bouwe Bekking 29 March 2009