Ludde Ingvall’s super maxi CQS has suffered a set back overnight in her attempt to win the RORC Trans-Atlantic race from Lazarote, Canary Islands to Grenada in the Caribbean.
“We got caught in a bad squall of probably 40 knots at 20:00hrs, which resulted in a number of issues,” Ludde reported from on the boat. There has been damage to sails and onboard electronic systems, but they are still progressing towards the finish.
The co-skipper told his shore team that all the crew are alright.
Describing the damage he said, “part of our electronics has failed, making it hard to sail in the dark, we blew our biggest spinnaker, but it is repairable.
“As we went into a gybe the engine stalled and we lay flat on our side for a while, which resulted in a diesel spill inside the boat, so the smell is terrible in the heat.”
He added, “we broke the top three battens in the mainsail, but we are still sailing towards the finish at reasonable speed, in pouring rain. We will assess the situation at first light.”
At the time of the incident CQS was more than 400 nautical miles ahead of the second place boat, Aragon, and was placed first under ORC handicap. With 755 nautical miles to go to the finish, the team will be fighting all the way to hold onto their position