Team Vestas Wind and Volvo Ocean Race organisers are still working on a plan to try and recover the Danish team's stricken VOR65, which ran aground on a remote reef in the Indian Ocean over the weekend.
The huge challenge facing the shore crew and race officials was made evident today with the release of an aerial shot showing the yacht grounded on the reef in the remote Mauritius archipelago of St Brandon.
"The photo paints a pretty graphic picture of what's going on out there. The picture tells a 1,000 words," said Neil Cox, shore manager of Team Vestas Wind.
He said his focus was still the security of the nine members of the crew, who were rescued from the reef on Sunday night (NZT) after being forced to abandon the yacht in complete darkness following the violent collision into the reef. The crew then waded through knee-deep water to a dry position on the reef before being picked up at daylight by a coastguard rib and taken to the nearby Íle du Sud.
The islet has very little communications with the outside world and the crew are awaiting transportation back to Mauritius. This is expected to happen within the next 24 hours.
