WITH carnage littering the race course from Singapore to Qingdao in China, the Volvo Ocean Race has seen some of the worst conditions in the history of the race and the Limerick boat run by Ger O’Rourke, Chieftain Group / Team Delta Lloyd Irish Dutch entry CEO, is in the middle of the hellish conditions that leg four has brought.
A number of teams were forced to seriously alter plans for the race and on Wednesday morning, Team Delta Lloyd was forced to head for Taiwan and veer off course to assess further damage to the boat. The team had to suspended racing earlier in the leg for a 12 hour period due to severe weather conditions as well as some crucial repairs that had to be carried out to the yacht.
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Skipper Roberto Bermudez notified the team base and the race office, on both occasions, that the Irish Dutch first generation yacht, first pulled into a small bay near the Philippines and dropped anchor to rectify repairs and now, having returned to the race for some time, decided to return to Taiwan as major issued at the bow of the boat would prevent them tackling the heavy seas and strong winds up to China. They have pulled into Keelung where they have temporarily suspended racing and will evaluate their chances of continuing to Qingdao. All are well on board and the skipper opted for safety first by returning the boat to safer environs.
Ericsson 3 have also withdrawn from the leg while Telefonica Black have retired from this leg of the race.
Green Dragon is limping on but are also suffering from heavy damage to the boat. They continue to assess they’re boat condition and weather patterns.
