The Atlantic is taking it’s toll on the OSTAR fleet right from the start as Anne Caseneuve and Reini Gelder both have to retire and return to port.
In an email sent to the Race Office at 0700, Anne Caseneuve has informed us that she has unfortunately had to retire from the race and is returning east. We have no further information at this stage.
The retirement of the only two trimarans in the race leaves the Line Honours Prize of winning OSTAR 2009 to a mono hull. So now the battle to Newport is really on. The retirement of the two tris emphasises the toughness of the OSTAR and shows that anyone who finishes is a winner. The first three days of this race have lived up to the reputation of the race as being one of the toughest in the world. The fact that most of the competitors are not professional sailors adds to the special ethos of the race.
This follows yesterday’s news:
Reini Gelder Retires
The OSTAR race office has received an email from Reini Gelder, sailing on the trimaran ‘Light for the World’, to say that at 1200 UTC his starboard top diamond broke with a loud bang. He saved the rig by immediately tacking. He is now running under staysail and 3 reefs in the main towards Lorient, France. He says it has been a fantastic 48 hours of racing but unfortunately it is now over for him.
