Cape Town - If you thought participating in the Volvo Ocean Race was all fun and games, a new video posted to YouTube by one of the teams may change your mind.
The footage filmed aboard MAPFRE's yacht shows the entire team on the deck working furiously to keep the vessel afloat in the face of stormy conditions in the Southern Ocean.
At one point you can see the yacht keeling over at a scary 90-degree angle and the main sail slamming into the ocean. Known as a 'Chinese gybe' or a 'Death Roll,' this is caused by strong winds or big waves.
According to a blog post on the Volvo Ocean Race website the incident took place about 2 000 nautical miles from the closest land mass. Nobody was injured, but damage to the yacht was still being assessed.
One of the crew members, Rob Greenhalgh was quoted saying: “It’s not very funny, but it was obviously pretty breezy, big waves, just coming down a big wave, nose went in. And that’s it, out of control and into a gybe, laid on its side. Not too much damage: tore the J2, damage to the main, obviously lost a shitload of miles in the process. Licking our wounds now!”
The Volvo Ocean Race is an around-the-world sailing challenge that happens every three years and is arguably the toughest open ocean race in the world. In the race this year, 7 teams of 8 to 12 sailors embarked on a mission around the globe sailing the most difficult of waters in order to win the race around the world.
The teams made a pit stop in Cape Town at the end of last year.