Clipper Race: Uncertain rescued crew can continue

Clipper Round the World Yacht Race team Derry~Londonderry~Doire has finished its toughest leg yet, with rescued British crew member Andrew Taylor going to hospital upon arrival following the man overboard incident in the Pacific Ocean last week.

The yacht crossed the finish line in sixth place at 14:28 UTC under San Francisco’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge, after 5,600 miles of racing.

A rescue operation saw Andrew recovered after spending 90 minutes in the extreme cold of the Pacific after going over the side while racing on 31 March.

After an examination and x-ray of his leg, the doctors at the Saint Francis Memorial Hospital have confirmed it is not broken, but he is suffering with a serious deep contusion, or bruising.

He will see an orthopaedic surgeon on Monday for further assessment on the leg to see whether he can continue with the race following the injury sustained when he hit the starboard rudder shortly after going over the side.

Andrew (46, from London) said: “I’m under no illusion that I am a very lucky man. I’m very happy to be here in San Francisco – I need to say thank you to a lot of these guys behind me for the work that they put in for the search and rescue operation. I also need to thank Olly Cotterell, the skipper of OneDLL, and the crew of OneDLL who suspended racing to come and assist in the search operation immediately. I need to say a massive thank to the Clipper Race team and the work that they did – in particular liaising with my family which is not an easy thing to do. They did an amazing job – my family speak very highly of them.

“It was horrific, the storm in particular – it was hard for these guys on the boat, it made the search harder but the storm treated me very badly. It beat me up badly.

“I kept myself really busy whilst I was in the water. There was a lot for me to do a lot for me to concentrate on and what I needed to do to survive. The guys on the boat were doing everything they needed to do so it was important I did the same. There were a few times I did wonder if I was going to get back on the boat or not but I’m here and on the boat, many thanks to the crew. It was an epic piece of work to find me.”

To read more, Click here.

Report by event media

Race website: http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com

Background:
The 40,000 mile Clipper 2013-14 Round the World Yacht Race began in London, UK on September 1 for the fleet of twelve identical Tony Castro designed Clipper 70s.

Eleven teams started the 5,600 mile leg from Qingdao, China to San Francisco, USA on March 16. PSP Logistics started the leg on March 19, a result of their late arrival into China due to several setbacks.

All twelve teams are expected in San Francisco by April 13, subject to prevailing conditions. The fleet will be berthed at South Beach Yacht Club until the April 19 start of Race 11 to the Panama Canal. During the Clipper Race’s stay at South Beach Yacht Club, San Francisco there will be several events open to the public.

The race route includes Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Cape Town, South Africa; Albany, Sydney, Hobart and Brisbane, Australia; Singapore; Qingdao, China; San Francisco, USA; Panama; Jamaica; New York, USA; Derry-Londonderry, Ireland; and Den Helder, Netherlands before returning to London in July.