KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand speedboat Earthrace is still undergoing urgent repairs in California before continuing on her around-the-world speed record attempt.
The "wavepiercing" trimaran vessel last month ran down a 5m fishing skiff off the coast of Guatemala, killing a shark fisherman and damaging propellers, gearbox and engine mounts.
The engine bay of Earthrace was so small it made repairs very challenging, said captain Pete Bethune, of Auckland.
A hole had to be cut in the wall of the vessel to get the gearbox out, he said in a statement.
The gearbox was installed but, when the boat was moving into the shipping channel at San Diego, engineer Marty Mead discovered a wobble in its driveshaft, which revealed damage to the engine mounts from the collision.
Earthrace has lost considerable time since leaving Barbados on its circumnavigation on March 10.
"The delays are just incredibly frustrating," Mr Bethune said. "We want to get back out on the water and get this record, and the longer these repairs take the harder it will be."
So far the boat has covered 4110 nautical miles, and is lagging 2930 miles behind the pace of Cable & Wireless, the boat which set the circumnavigation record in 1998.
- NZPA
