It seems pretty normal you would have to repair a few things when your yacht is being battered by the forces of nature, and the Mapfre entry in the
ADVERTISEMENTIt seems pretty normal you would have to repair a few things when your yacht is being battered by the forces of nature, and the Mapfre entry in the Volvo Ocean race had to do just that on leg five, fixing and modifying the hull and outrigger as it crossed 7000 miles of the southern ocean.
But now the team is in the doldrums following an ISAF ruling that they failed to report their work quickly enough to race judges. They accept the work was not intended to modify performance and was to forestall potential disaster, but insist it should have been reported immediately.
The team has been hit with a two-point penalty, dropping them from fourth to fifth overall, and is considering some sort of appeal against the decision, which was a cold shower after a second place in the fifth leg’s thrilling racing.