VO65 Sailing Poland collides with a freighter
The Polish VO65 struck the port side of the freighter, sustaining damage to her bowsprit.
The unfortunate event occurred on Sunday morning. The VO65 Sailing Poland was training in the waters of Sopot when it began to approach the freighter, located 700 m from the docks. Sailing Poland crossed the stern of the freighter with good speed and heading. but, suddenly, the sailboat seems to have started a tack forward, passing the bow in front of the ship, hitting its bowsprit with the hull of the freighter. It’s hard to judge what the Sailing Poland helmsman intended, but from what you can see in the video, it seemed like a change of course. The maneuver was a disaster, badly calculated and badly executed, without the necessary safe distances, but luckily without more damage than the aforementioned bowsprit.
The team reported that, in accordance with the procedure, the conflict was communicated to the captaincy, which initiated the corresponding procedures. The sailboat continues with its tests and the damage will be assessed when it returns to the shipyard.
“The Swiss writer Henri-Frédéric Amiel used to say that an error is always more dangerous in proportion to the degree of truth it contains. Our fundamental mistake here fortunately did not cause any damage to any member of the crew and the worst truth is the cost of repairing the bowsprit. Things like this happen in sports, so we’ll definitely fix it. We will repair our boat and sail again! ”Sailing Poland posted on their Facebook wall.
The Volvo Ocean 65 Sailing Poland is one of only eight units of its kind in the world. It is the boat with which the Spanish Mapfre team participated in the 2014/15 and 2017/18 editions of the Volvo Ocean Race. Indeed, the Polish team is preparing to compete with that boat in the regatta The Ocean Race.
