Volvo OR - Dongfeng suffers keel problem - jury rigged
by Dongfeng Racing 24 Dec 2017 07:27 AEDT
24 December 2017
Leg 3, Cape Town to Melbourne, day 13, on board Dongfeng. Champagner sailing today for the crew © Martin Keruzore / Volvo Ocean Race
Dongfeng Race Team has suffered a setback in final run-in to Melbourne
“We managed to make an alternative system with only one ram but it has been a tough job,” said Caudrelier. “We lost 10-15 miles. This is not very good for us because we could be really close to Vestas or Brunel. The back of the fleet took a totally different routing option and they are coming back very fast. Let’s hope this is not a loss that will cost us second place. So let’s go, because I think we deserve this second place.”
Dongfeng Race Team is dealing with its first serious technical issue of the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race after a failure in the canting keel mechanism that has disabled the port ram.
The problem is now under control and there is no immediate concern for the safety of the boat or the crew. However when the failure was discovered, the crew spent several hours making running repairs – replacing hydraulic oil that had leaked out of the canting system and conducting other checks – while the boat was continuing at reduced pace.
The detailed nature of the failure has yet to be fully explained but there is every hope that the Dongfeng Race Team shore crew, alongside staff from the Volvo Ocean Race Boatyard, will be able to get the problem fixed in time for the start of Leg 4 from Melbourne to Hong Kong on January 2.
However a complicating factor will be the race rules that restrict to two the number of shore crew that are allowed to work on any of the boats during what is – to all intents and purposes – a pit-stop in Melbourne.
The Dongfeng Race Team boat captain, Graham Tourell, who is in Melbourne awaiting the arrival of the boat, said: “We have been speaking to the crew and liaising with the Volvo Ocean Race Boatyard to ensure that as soon as Dongfeng arrives in Melbourne, inspections and repairs can get underway to ensure the boat is race ready in time for the next leg to Hong Kong.”
The setback for Dongfeng Race Team comes as she continues to sail the last 500 nautical miles to the Leg 3 finish at Melbourne. The Chinese-flagged red and white Volvo Ocean 65 is currently in second place for the leg, around 100 miles behind leader MAPFRE and is currently expected to arrive in Melbourne between 2000 - 2300 UTC on the 24th December.
Dongfeng is now back up to full pace, sailing downwind and making more than 18 knots of boatspeed in 17 knots of breeze. Behind her is Vestas 11th Hour Racing in third place but currently not showing in the rankings on the official Tracker because she is racing in Stealth Mode. As a result, Team Brunel is listed as third, 57 miles behind Dongfeng.
The keel issue is a worry for skipper Charles Caudrelier in the closing stages of a leg which has seen his team push the boat hard in heavy weather. But in his favour is the rapidly dwindling remaining race distance and the fact that the westerly breeze is likely to ease as the boat closes on Port Phillip Bay.
“We managed to make an alternative system with only one ram but it has been a tough job,” said Caudrelier. "We lost 10-15 miles and this is not very good for us because we could be really close to Vestas or Brunel. The back of the fleet took a totally different routing option and they are coming back very fast. Let’s hope this is not a loss that will cost us second place. So let’s go, because I think we deserve this second place.”
http://www.sail-world.com/news/200556
Bowman Jack Bouttell gave his summary of the problem: “The whole fitting of the port keel ram, which pushes the keel from side to side, is cracked where it attaches to the boat,” he said.
“We are not sure how it happened but we think it is from the hull slamming in the seaway. A lot of water came in and filled up the majority of the boat and we lost oil in the system, so the keel was floating around and there was nothing holding it in place.
“We switched off the port hydraulic ram so it is not in the system and then put new oil in the starboard ram and we are trying to get it to work again with just the starboard ram, but it is a bit of a mess at the moment with a lot of water everywhere.
“We just managed to cant the keel using just the starboard ram,” Bouttell added, “so we are going to check now that it stays with the pressure and keep an eye on it for a while, but fingers crossed we’ve got it working.”
Dongfeng Race Team is representing China in the Volvo Ocean Race. It is wholly sponsored by the Chinese truck and car maker, Dongfeng Motor Corporation. This is it’s second Volvo Ocean Race campaign after the team finished third overall in the last race in 2014-15.