Volvo Ocean Race Visuals…
The VOR takes race boats around the bottom of the world. Accordingly, they will be upside down (won’t they?) and must prove they are capable of this unique sailing configuration. Latest Volvo Open 70 to get the treatment is Movistar (the link is http://www.movistar.es/vela/, but it doesn’t seem to be working…). Here’s how it all went:
A large crane was used to turn the 21.5 meter-long VO70 boat by hanging it from its keel bulb until it capsized completely. Four members of the crew – including Skipper Bouwe Bekking and Bowman Pepe Ribes – participated in the manoeuvre from inside the boat to check for possible flooding on the cabin and perform the self-righting of the hull.
The whole capsizing manoeuvre lasted 8 minutes and the boat was upside down for nearly 12 minutes.
To complete the operation successfully, the members of the crew inside the boat activated the pivoting keel system to return the boat to its natural position fully autonomously. The keel movement righted the hull slowly and gradually in just 5 minutes.
Interesting way to spend a few minutes…
