KEY POINTS:
Aucklander Pete Bethune and his crew aboard the Earthrace speedboat have left Guatemala for the second time after a last minute hiccup involving repairs to the boat.
The crew set out for their next destination on their round-the-world record attempt yesterday, after being held for 10 days in Guatemala after a collision with a fishing boat left one man missing, presumed dead, and two injured.
But they had to return to Guatemala's Puerto San Jose for repairs before leaving again early today NZ time.
"They returned around midnight because they had problems with their boat," said Celwin Castro, the head of Guatemala's Pacific Naval Command. "They repaired them and today at 7 in the morning, they finally left for Acapulco."
On Tuesday, a judge freed Bethune and his four crew, including another New Zealander, after ruling the collision was accidental and the boat's representatives reached a private agreement with the family of missing fisherman Julio David Galiano Contreras, 51.
- NZPA
