
11-21-2010
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Member
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: SoCal
Posts: 61
Rep Power: 2
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Belgian Christophe Bullens has had a lot of bad luck.
On his delivery trip to the start, he was dismasted.
Unable to find a replacement mast, he chartered Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty's boat for the race just a few days before the start. Since a qualifier is mandatory, Bullens took the start with the others, sailed a couple days out and back, did a bit of sorting on the boat, then re-started from La Rochelle one week after the others.
He had a fuel leak inside the boat, and electrical failures, and after a couple knockdowns and damage to his main, he stopped in the Canaries for repairs.
Apparently, in the Canaries, he contracted a virus and was quite ill. The race medical consultants suggested he stop and see a doctor in the Cape Verdes, where he remained a couple of days until he improved enough, and then set sail again.
That is why he is so far behind.
It's interesting that the boat he has will probably be the fastest in the race if he can get used to it and sort any remaining technical problems.
hC
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