After the Team Vestas Wind boat ran aground on a reef in November, the future of the nine-man team in the nine-month has remained uncertain. In January, the team broke its silence, vowing to rejoin the race despite the delay.
鈥淚 am extremely proud to announce that Team Vestas Wind will be rejoining the race by repairing the boat,鈥� said Morten Alb忙k, CEO of Team Vestas Wind, in a . 鈥淰estas is a company that stands up to pressure. We stick with it, we make comebacks. This has become a race for us to rejoin the race.鈥�
The boat, which skipper Chris Nicholson and crew were when the impact broke the ship鈥檚 rudders and the stern began taking on water, was salvaged in mid-December and deemed repairable.
鈥淲e got the boat off the reef in better condition than we thought possible,鈥� Nicholson said in the release. 鈥淭here are large portions of the deck that can be reused and a lot of other components within the structure. We鈥檒l rebuild our boat just as we rebuild our hopes and dreams.鈥�
The boat has since been transported to Malaysia, waiting for the second half of its journey to Persico Marine in Italy, where it will undergo repairs.
The Volvo Ocean Race, which started in Alicante, Spain, on October 4, 2014, concludes on June 27, 2015, in Gothenburg, Sweden.