Bowman Michael Pammenter has injured his foot, and was taken back to the Marina da Gloria by a support boat. Under the race rules, the team cannot replace him during this leg. Upon arrival at the marina, Pammenter was transferred to hospital to have his leg and foot examined.
“I had the jib sheet wrapped around my foot when we went into a tack and I got flipped into the rig,” he said, describing how it occured. “I got my foot stuck between the mast and the jib sheet basically. It’s really painful but I’ve had some painkillers so it’s calmed down a lot, but there’s a lot of swelling so we thought it would be safer if I got off the boat and got it checked out properly. Hopefully I’ll be back for the next leg.
“Originally I was going to try and carry on, do as little as possible, but the realisation came that if I want it to heal properly I have to get off and get it done properly. There is minimal chance that I have broken anything, but just be safe.
“I am really upset,” he continued. “I just feel pretty stupid to be honest. We are all really excited to leave and then I do something like this. But it happens.”
