Romain Pilliard and Alex Pella on the Trimaran ‘Use It Again!’ are reported safe in Puerto Williams, Chile, after being recovered from the rocks in Cook Bay, Chile
Pilliard of France and Pella of Spain were on day 36 of a Westabout Record World Attempt, when after their passage of Cape Horn, they ran aground in Cooks Bay when Alex Pella, who was in charge of the watch, had apparently fallen asleep.
The Chilean Navy arrived and a tug was able to set up a tow to get them out of the uncharted area.
They then managed to motor ‘Use It Again!’ up the Beagle Channel to Puerto Williams escorted by the Chilean Navy.
Pilliard and Pella were not injured and are now resting and will inspect the damage to see if they can continue, although the record attempt is now ended.
The boat had been used previously by Ellen MacArthur for the solo round the world record in 2005.
On Tuesday (8 Feb) after passing Cape Horn they had sheltered in the Patagonian canals to allow several several strong depressions between them and the Pacific to pass.
It was whle looking for shelter to repair batten damage and avoid the 30+ knot winds that they entered Cook’s Bay, hoping to then embark on the Pacific crossing this Thursday (10 Feb).
During this time at 6am (1am local) Wednesday morning, the trimaran ran aground in Cook’s Bay.
Pella was on watch, but after more than a month at sea, fatigue built up and he fell asleep.
They put on their survival suits and then secured the boat and sent a video to the Chilean Navy so that they could assist to get them out before the arrival of the depression and without damaging the boat too much.
This was completed by a Chiliean tug, and they motered to Puerto Williams.
RSS – Posts