RUNNING REPAIRS

Volvo Ocean sailors know they’re signing up for job that might require – shall we say – an extreme level of commitment.

Aussie crewman Kyle Langford – a trimmer on the Dutch entrant Team Brunel – discovered new depths of commitment when he was asked to repair the yacht’s port rudder – while she was travelling at around 20 knots.

The rudder struck an unknown object during the trans-atlantic Leg 9 of the race – from Newport, Rhode Island, to Cardiff in Wales. The collision removed a section of the rudder and Langford was sent overboard to sand its leading edge.

Team Brunel – having just won Leg 10 into Gothenburg in Swden – sits on top of the leaderboard in a dead tie with MAPFRE, on 65 points. One point behind is Dongfeng Race Team – but with an additional bonus point for best elapsed time to be added (after the Leg 11 finish), Dongfeng is also on 65 points. All of which sets up for an exciting final leg sprint into The Hague.