Kaenon

Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez, who wear Kore aboard the MAPFRE, are still making great progess in the Barcelona World Race. However, that progress doesn’t come without hardships. With, what Xabi called, “waves like mountains” of over 20 feet, the final stretch through the Indian Ocean proved to be quite challenging for the MAPFRE.

In addition to the unfavorable weather, the MAPFRE suffered damage during the most recent leg of the race. Xabi filled us in on the situation:

“The fact is that five days ago we had a collision with an object. We’ve had a few collisions with no consequences, but this time we broke a daggerboard. We were sailing to starboard, first reaching and then close hauled to get through the ice gate, and we realised that a chunk of a daggerboard was missing.

There was nothing we could do at that point. It was better to carry on sailing with a piece of the daggerboard than to remove it, as we had to get through the gate, but we had already started losing ground with those behind.” (Full report)

Sail-World.com reported the following:

“After cannibalising foam from the helm’s seat from the cockpit of MAPFRE to rebuild some of the broken section back to a useable profile, the Spanish sailing heroes are back up to speed this afternoon, quickest in the fleet and catching miles on the leaders Virbac-Paprec 3.”

The Spaniards are on holding strong in their second place position and continue to surprise us with their ingenuity and competitive spirit. Like Xabi said, “Life’s certainly not dull on ‘MAPFRE!’”

This entry was posted on February 22, 2011 and is filed under Sailing, Sports-Entertainment.
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