Team Malizia falls behind with compass problems
Team Malizia with Boris Herrmann suffered a setback in the 16th Transat Jacques Vabre. After a solid start and a good chase up to sixth place, Herrmann and his partner Will Harris fell back again. By early Wednesday afternoon they were twelfth. A faulty compass caused problems for the German-British duo at the start of the 3750 nautical mile race from Le Havre to Martinique.
"We have problems with the electronic compass this morning. We are trying to steer the ship with a replacement compass. But it's not working as well as we had hoped," reported Herrmann from on board. That's why we're sailing a bit slowly, we've lost a lot of time in the last few hours."
In cooperation with Team Malizia's technicians on land, the crew on the German "Malizia - Seaexplorer" is trying to repair the boat as quickly as possible. "We are trying to solve the problem and are staying on the ball," Herrmann told the German Press Agency. One day after the start, the two favored French boats "Charal" with Jérémie Beyou and Franck Cammas were just ahead of "For People" with defending champion Thomas Ruyant and Morgan Lagravière in the lead in the Imoca class.
In the smaller Class 40, the "Sign for Com" skippers Lennart Buke and Melwin Fink from Hamburg passed Cape Finisterre on the west coast of Galicia two days after their start in Lorient on Wednesday afternoon. The 25-year-old Lennart Burke and the 21-year-old Melwin Fink were in 18th place in the field of the remaining 40 Class 40 yachts at their Transat premiere on Wednesday afternoon. The young professionals are hoping to benefit from an expected wind shift, as their boat will be better able to play to its strengths downwind. Four Class 40 teams have already been eliminated.
Despite the compass issues, Team Malizia continued their sailing journey in the high seas during the 16th Transat Jacques Vabre. The faulty electronic device caused them to steer the boat using a backup compass, resulting in slower progress and lost time on the race.
Regardless of the challenges, Team Malizia persisted in attempting to fix the problem aboard the "Malizia - Seaexplorer" and remained determined to regain their position on the 3750 nautical mile race from Le Havre to Martinique.
Source: www.dpa.com
