After attempting to fit the hydraulic ram borrowed from Jérémie Beyou’s team, Paul Meilhat has been forced to bring his boat home on a cargo vessel. The MV AS Carelia will be leaving on 10th January to head for Europe via the Panama Canal…
Eight days after discovering that the hydraulic ram used for canting the keel, had cracked, Paul Meilhat headed for Tahiti, and moored his SMA in the marina in Papeete, where he was joined by his shore team (Marcus Hutchinson, Marc Liardet, Philippe Thomas). Not only was the new part unsuitable, but they also discovered additional damage to the housing.
“We really thought the part from Maître-CoQ was the same, but it didn’t fit. To be able to use the ram would have taken a lot of work with a modification to the part using materials they don’t have on the Pacific islands. It would have taken over a month, so we have decided to bring the boat home by cargo ship. When we removed the ram, we saw that there had been collateral damage to the housing as well.”
The team is now busy removing the keel and mast and building a cradle to stow the monohull on the container vessel, which is heading for Le Havre, where she is due to arrive on 17th March. Paul Meilhat will be flying back to France. “I’m a bit out of it, in a different time and place. We spent the week focusing on the work and I think it is only when I get back to France that it will really hit me… These few days in Polynesia are allowing me to “decompress”: I have talked a lot to the team about what I went through before the damage occurred and I have some great memories. I can’t wait to get back to France to talk about my race rather than the damage and look ahead to new projects. I am proud and relieved to have brought the boat here safely with me aboard.”
