The Race, Team Adventure to stop in Wellington for repairs
by Keith Taylor on 12 Feb 2001
-Team Adventure will pause here
in her race around the world for additional repair work to her main
crossbeam. The beam was first damaged in the Southern Ocean and was repaired
in Cape Town, South Africa during a four and a half day stopover there.
Skipper Cam Lewis, from Lincolnville, ME, reported today from the Tasman Sea
that he expected the repair work to the delaminated outer skin surface of
the main crossbeam would be completed within the 60-hour pit stop time
required under the rules of The Race of the Millennium.
'We have made careful examinations of the interior structure of the
crossbeam and there is no sign of any problem inside with the repairs and
modifications made in Cape Town,' Lewis said. 'However the exterior skin of
the crossbeam has peeled away significantly over a two-meter square area
repair area where it is constantly blasted by waves. While the beam is
sound, we have no alternative but to restore the exterior skin integrity. We
will also carefully survey the boat for any other potential problems at the
same time.'
Lewis made the announcement not long after the race leader Club Med rounded
Cape Horn, some 5,000 miles ahead, and began the journey up through the
Atlantic Ocean to the finish line in Marseilles. At the time Innovation
Explorer, a sister-ship, of Team Adventure and Club Med, was the
second-placed boat, about 800 miles from Cape Horn.
The 110-foot American boat lost seven days in time and nearly 4,000 miles
two weeks ago, after putting into Cape Town, South Africa, to put ashore two
crewmen injured when the boat hit a freak wave. Repairs were completed at
the same time.
Larry Rosenfeld, co-navigator of Team Adventure, and Lewis's partner in the
Team Adventure Education Foundation project, said that the boat was enjoying
ideal sailing conditions and was making full speed today. However he expects
lighter winds ahead, and estimated that the boat will reach Wellington on
Tuesday morning local time. Its arrival will coincide with the arrival of
carbonfiber construction experts flying in from the United States to handle
the repair work.
Team Adventure is a partner in a pair of innovative web sites.
www.nationalgeographic.com/teamrace, the web site of the National Geographic
Society, is the educational partner in the collaborative venture. The
National Public Radio affiliates WBUR in Boston, MA, at www.WBUR.org, and
WRNI in Providence, RI, at www.wrni.org, are the exclusive radio media
partners.
Monster.com, the leading global online careers site and the flagship brand
of TMP Worldwide (NASDAQ: 'TMPW'; ASX: 'TMP'), has signed a Sponsor Level
Partnership - becoming the first major sponsor of the team.
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