Gitana Busted
by Jake on Mar.21, 2007, under Miscellaneous
Gitana 13 (Formerly Innovation Explorer from “The Race”) set out a couple of days ago to best the Columbus Route of Discovery Record currently held by Steve Fossett’s Cheyenne (125 foot) catamaran of just over 9.5 days. Boy, wouldn’t Columbus be impressed that we can sail from Cadiz to the Bahamas in a whole lot less time than his five weeks!
Gitana had fallen slightly behind Fossett’s pace while sitting in some still weather. She had finally broken free when they had an impact with a UFO (Unidentified Floating Object) yesterday and broke the starboard rudder at the hull. Unfortunately a large chunk of that rudder is partially attached and is threatening to do further damage to the hull. The crew intends to send a person into the water to free the rest of the rudder to hopefully avoid a larger problem – but the great sailing weather is impeding this repair and they’re slowly trying to make their way toward land. They’ve given up on the record attempt. I hope they find some land soon and safely.
More info and some video on The Gitana Site.
Originally uploaded by Team Seacats.
