Deciding the Volvo Open 70 looked like a comfortable place to spend a few hours of downtime, a bat chose to rest its weary wings on Azzam’s big black mainsail.
“He joined us this morning, I think he got blown offshore,” skipper Ian Walker told “He basically attached himself to the mainsail and has survived a few tacks up there. He fell asleep on the reef point, and has been there for five or six hours.”
Despite being locked in a duel with CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand just a mile ahead, Walker said his team would take care of their visitor.
“I think he likes our black sails and Azzam’s falcon,” Walker added. “We will try and deliver him back towards shore tonight.” volvooceanrace.com
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing have been fighting to close down the leading pack and get back in contention as the fleet negotiate the congested and unpredictable Malacca Strait.
Their efforts were dealt a frustrating blow this morning however when they had to drop their code zero headsail after discovering a mysterious tear in the massive sail when the sun came up this morning.
The sail was quickly pulled to the deck to avoid the rip getting any bigger before a posse of sailors including a concerned looking skipper Ian Walker assembled on the foredeck to assess the damage.
Happily for the Azzam crew the damage could be fixed on deck, without the aid of a sewing machine. After first drying and cleaning the area around the tear, the crew glued patches to both sides of the sail and, after checking for any other signs of wear, the code zero was soon re-hoisted and pulling.
Soon after, bowman Justin Slattery was hoisted up the mast to check on how the repair was holding up and to tidy up a loose edge on one side of the patch.
Walker said he was unsure how the sail had been damaged but suspected it may have snagged on the stiffening battens in one of the other headsails during a tacking maneuver during the night.
At the 1900 UTC position report Abu Dhabi remained in fifth place but had made some inroads on the leaders, reducing their deficit by 4 nautical miles (nm) to 36 nm.
