#VOR - Team Vestas Wind have successfully lifted their VOR 65 from the Indian Ocean reef where it grounded three weeks ago during the second leg of the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race.
The vessel is badly damaged, but still in one piece – "not bad for a boat which ran into the reef in St brandon at 19 knots," writes Jonno Turner for the official VOR website.
As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the complicated retrieval operation was overseen by team skipper Chris Nicholson, who last week flew in to Mauritius, some 400km away from the remote reef, to discuss plans with team shore chief Neil Cox.
“We were able to get the boat across the lagoon this morning [21 December] on the high tides, and it went well enough that we could pull it straight out of the lagoon," said Cox of the three-hour operation.
He added that the "beyond delicate" job could not have been achieved without the help of the local work force assisting in re-anchoring the boat and carrying oxygen bottles needed for cutting off the keel.
The vessel is now being shipped to Malaysia before transport back to Europe, as VOR chiefs set up an independent report into the grounding incident. The team, meanwhile, is exploring its options for the remainder of the round-the-world yachting challenge.
The VOR website has much more on the story HERE.
