What the "Vestas" looks like after its Hong Kong collision with a 20-knots fishing vessel (Photo David Nightingale)

The Director of Regata de la Volvo, has been interviewed by the communication officials, regarding the serious incident of the "Vestas" in his approach to Hong Kong, which was filled with the sad news of the death of a Chinese fisherman... This is the content of the interview:

Phil, what do we know about what happened on Friday night, January 19, between the 11th Hour Racing Vestas and another boat?

First of all, we know that a man lost his life, tragically, after an incident with one of our ships. We offer our deepest condolences to your loved ones and family. We are relieved that the other nine sailors on board have been rescued and the initial reports say they are in good condition.

With regard to what happened, we know that there was a collision shortly before 1723 UTC (which is when the Race Control received the first message from the 11th Hour Racing Vestas) between the 11th Hour Racing Vestas and another ship. The incident took place about 30 miles from the Phase 4 finish line in Hong Kong.

Vestas 11th Hour Racing stopped competing immediately, informed Race Control of the incident (at 1736 UTC), sent a Mayday on behalf of the other ship and helped in the search and rescue mission.

What happened next?

The Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre informed Race Control that a nearby commercial ship had rescued nine crew members from the other ship, and that a tenth was transferred to the hospital by helicopter after the Vestas 11th Hour Racing team rescued him from the water. We are deeply saddened to report that the Hong Kong MRCC confirmed the death of that airborne crew member on Saturday morning.

What happened to the crew and the boat on the 11th Hour Racing Vestas?

All the crew members of Vestas 11th Hour Racing are safe and unharmed, but the ship suffered damage to the hull. After participating in the rescue, the team was able to return to port without help and with its own means despite the damage. At no time did Vestas 11th Hour Racing request assistance for itself.

What caused the collision? Did the other ship have the navigation lights or did it use the AIS?

We still have no answers to those questions but, of course, those are central questions for ongoing research. Both the 11th Hour Racing Vestas and the Volvo Ocean Race will cooperate with the relevant authorities to clarify what happened.

Could Race Control have prevented this accident by informing Vestas 11th Hour Racing of an imminent collision?

No. Although Race Control controls the position of the ships of the race for safety reasons, it does not have access to the position of the other ships in the sea.

What do we know about the other ship involved in the collision and its crew?

We're trying to find out more. We know that the other ship suffered significant damage and we know that it sank as a result of the incident. We know that he had 10 crew members and that the 10 were rescued, but tragically, the hospital certified the death of one of them. At the Volvo Ocean Race, next to the 11th Hour Racing Vestas, we are working with local authorities to get more information about the ship's crew involved in the incident. In fact, that is our top priority.

Can you reveal the victim's name?

We are looking for confirmation of your identity by the authorities, as well as appropriate information to communicate it according to local customs.

What happened to the Dongfeng Race Team and the AkzoNobel team in terms of rescue assistance?

The Dongfeng Race Team was the first ship in the race that was near the scene and immediately offered to deviate and help. At 1821 UTC the 11th Hour Racing Vestas confirmed by e-mail to the Dongfeng Race Team that no additional assistance was required, so Dongfeng Race Team continued to the goal.

Later, when the AkzoNobel team arrived near the area on its way to the finish line, Race Control requested that they support the 11th Hour Racing Vestas a precautionary measure. Neither Vestas 11th Hour Racing nor the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre requested this help and once it became clear that they were not necessary, Race Control gave the AkzoNobel team a free way to finish the phase.

How's the crew at the 11th Hour Racing Vestas?

As we can imagine, they are very shocked and deeply saddened by the incident. They are supported by the rest of their team and the organization of the Volvo Ocean Race and have access to professional assistance upon request.

What's the next step?

Together with Vestas 11th Hour Racing, we are actively working with the Hong Kong Police and the Maritime Authority to support the ongoing investigation.

20 / 01 / 2018: "Mapfre" enters fourth in "Hong Kong" but holds on to the leadership of the Volvo

"Mapfre" despite its regular fourth stage, maintains the leadership of the Volvo

The Mapfre has completed Stage 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race in the fourth square after crossing the finish line in Hong Kong at 1: 51: 10 UTC. The Spanish team has invested a total of 17 days, 22 hours, 36 minutes and 10 seconds to complete the more than 6,000 miles that have taken them from Melbourne (Australia) to Hong Kong.

The stage podium has been occupied by the SHK / Scallywag, which has made history achieving its first triumph in its port of origin, the Dongfeng Race Team and the team Akzonobel. Team Brunel has completed the fifth position stage 18 days 45 minutes and 56 seconds.

19 / 01 / 2018: Volvo accident: "Vestas" colisione with a Chinese fishing at 21 knots

The 11th Hour Racing has informed the Race Control of a collision with another ship about 30 miles from the arrival line of Stage 4 in Hong Kong. The Race Control, located at the headquarters of the Volvo Ocean Race, was informed by the team at approximately 17: 39 UTC.

The team has reported that the entire crew of the 11th Hour Racing Vestas is safe. There are limited damage to the ship, but the team is still evaluating them. The team has not requested external assistance. It appears that the ship on which Chuny Bermudez de Castro sailed collided with a fishing vessel at 21 knots of speed, and the result of the violence of the collision, three sailors have disappeared. The "Vestas" has been trying to locate the shipwrecks for several hours. The Volvo Ocean Race is deeply saddened to report that the collision between Vestas 11th Hour Racing, a team competing in the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18, and a fishing boat has resulted in the death of a crew member of the fishing boat.

The race control has asked the team "Akzonobel" to move from its course to the line of arrival in Hong Kong to support "Vestas," following the collision with the fishing.

19 / 01 / 2018: Only "SHK-Scallywag" and "Dongfend" have entered Hong Kong at midnight

The images of the night arrival in Hong Kong, are quite a show

At 11: 00 in the evening only two ships had reached the line of arrival in Hong Kong: the winner of this fourth stage of the Volvo Ocean Race, "Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag" which was about 17: 45.42 on 19 January, and about three hours later at 20: 33.22 the French-Chinese ship "Dongfeng." Right now the situation is like this when the winds of the north-east of 20 knots:

19-01-2018: "SHK-Scallywag" arrives in Hong Kong as the absolute dominator of the fourth stage of the Volvo

The fourth stage of the Volvo Ocean Race already has its own name... the "SHK-Scallywag" has reached the line of arrival as the winner... on this occasion the winner if he has been a prophet on his land. A long distance from the Hong Kong ship, it sails very quickly the "Vestas" supported by a 20-kt north-east, further behind the "Dongfeng..." between the three will be distributed the podium steps... the Mapfre is about 170 miles from Hong Kong, and it sails in fifth position. This is the situation at the moment of the fleet:

19 / 01 / 2018: "SHK-Scallywag" launched to Hong Kong will come today as a leading leader

There were no surprises in the tactics of the fleet to take refuge in the "silence" mode... once the curtain was lifted the scene appeared as it was before, or even worse for some, as the case of the "Mapfre" that is more than 200 miles from the Hong Kong ship when we are 170 miles away from the fourth stage, in the middle of the north-east winds of a twenty knots. The "SHK-Scallywag" must cross the arrival line in about five hours, ahead of the "Vestas" that will do it a couple of hours later, if the wind continues to blow what early on Friday.

17 / 01 / 2018: Northeast of 20 knots for the "SHK-Scallywag" less than 700 miles from Hong Kong

The Hong Kong team is 48 hours away from their first victory if nothing strange happens to them.

Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag team pattern, Dave Witt, is very clear that the next 24 hours are crucial to confirm what would be a historic victory in the team's original city, Hong Kong. Witt's crew has almost 100 nautical miles of advantage over their nearest rival, the 11th Hour Racing Vestas, when there are only 840 miles left to the finish line.

Despite this good income, Hong Kong is still almost two days away, and the experienced Scallywag regatists know that it is better not to celebrate anything at the moment. To reach the goal, they must first cross between Taiwan and the Philippines, about 400 miles later. There are some areas of little wind that must be avoided. According to Witt, the 24 hours before this point will decide whether they can be held at the first place during the final line.

16-01-2018: The fleet assumes the victory of "Sun Hung Kai" that is 1100 miles from Hong Kong

The "Sun Hung Kai / Scallywa" team is about to go beyond the psychological barrier from 1,000 miles to the finish line. The "Sun Hung Kai / Scallywa" team does not show signs of giving up both its rotuned and surprising dominance in stage 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Tried to reach its port of origin, Hong Kong, as heroes, the "Scallywag" crew maintain a comfortable 73-mile advantage over their nearest rival, the 11th Hour Racing Vestas the action reaches its peak.

The "Scallywag" advances to more than 20 knots of boat speed, being only overcome by the "Vestas" that makes it almost five knots faster... the only one who did not lose miles to "Scallywag" in the six hours before the position part was the "Dongfeng Race Team," which managed to recover half a mile.

15 / 01 / 2018: "Sun Hung Kai-Scallywag" is already 1500 miles from Hong Kong on the Volvo

The Hong Kong ship is already 1500 from its base port

The Hong Kong ship on the Volvo, the Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag, continues to increase its lead in Stage 4 when the fleet's head is already about 1,500 nautical miles from the goal. Dave Witt's team took over the classification last Saturday as they passed through the northern Solomon Islands and has since consolidated their advantage over their six rivals.

In the season of his debut at the Volvo Ocean Race, the "Scallywag" is especially motivated in this fourth stage as it is the first time that the Volvo Ocean Race is going to stop in its hometown, Hong Kong.

In the 24 hours before the 1300 UTC positions, Scallywag made an impressive record of 504.7 miles, 25 miles more than the second, "Vestas 11th Hour Racing," and 77 miles more than the "team AkzoNobel" in third place.

In addition, they have had to deal with the problem of man to water, although they were able to solve the maneuver in seven minutes, which did not have a great impact on their performance. Vestas was 76 miles away today, and AkzoNobel gave just under 89 miles to the leaders. So are things at 11: 00 at night, and the winds of the east with 15 knots of speed:

14 / 01 / 2018: Man to the water in the Sun Hung Kai while leading the stage in the Volvo

After an impeccable rescue of Álex Gough, the Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag continues to lead the fleet to Hong Kong

The Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag continues as a leader in the fourth stage of the Volvo Ocean Race, despite having had to rescue a crew member who fell into the water. The crew member Alex Gough was dragged by a wave during a candle change and fell overboard with winds of 15-20 knots, an event that took place around noon, local time. The team activated the rescue mode and Gough was back on board within seven minutes, unharmed. The Scallywag resumed the competition immediately.

The maneuver cost the team a few miles, but they had a comfortable advantage, and they still led the fleet to the west, to Hong Kong, which is now just over 2,000 nautical miles away. The "Dongfeng Race Team" and the "team AkzoNobel" continue to be more north than the rest of the fleet, but so far they do not have significantly different weather conditions.

"Mapfre" has worked well to earn about 30 miles from the "Turn the Tide on Plastic" and the "Team Brunel," but it remains about 150 miles from the "Scallywag" stern while the fleet is on the islands, islets and atolls of Micronesia. So is the fleet:

13 / 01 / 2018: 17-knots Nordestes approach the Volvo to Hong Kong that is already 2600 miles

The Volvo Ocean Race fleet finally reaches the pliers and is facing a new challenge in the next few hours: to pass without damage through the reefs of Micronesia, as the routing takes them directly between the islands

The demand in the fourth stage of the Volvo has changed completely in shape with respect to the South Ocean; now the danger is not hurricane winds or icebergs, but a series of tactical and strategic complications that test the mental hardness of the crews.

In the last few hours, the seven ships in competition have left behind the hellhole of the Doldrums, with their infernal heat, to enter the highway of the Alsios that will take them to Hong Kong... the only serious and very dangerous obstacle to the end in the old British colony... the coral reefs of Micronesia.

The most oriental teams, Vestas 11th Hour Racing, Dongfeng Race Team and team AkzoNobel are the ones that dominate the fleet at this time, with the Spanish team about 100 miles away.

From behind, both the Turn the Tide on Plastic and Team Brunel are crouched to wait for any errors of the ships ahead to try to improve positions.

12 / 01 / 2018: "Vestas" heals the lead of "Sun Hung Kai" with these 17 knots in the Volvo

The fourth stage of the Volvo Ocean Race may be hosting some of the longest and most suffocating Doldroms in the recent history of the competition. The seven ships have already crossed Ecuador and are approaching the highway of the Alsios that will launch them to Hong Kong, but not without paying a hard toll for it.

Once they are hooked to the east wind, constant winds of up to 20 knots can be found, a strong contrast to the tortuous and unstable conditions they have faced in the Doldrums for the last five days.

When midnight approaches, both "Vestas" and "Dongfeng" are very close to the leader and sailing much faster, taking advantage of the 17-kt east winds, which are pushing the fleet little by little that is already a little more than 2800 miles... the Spanish ship "Mapfre" is in fifth position about 90 miles from the head platoon led by "Sun Hung Kai," in a surprising way... but to whom in honor of the truth it is very little time to occupy this position of privilege.

11 / 01 / 2018: Hong Kong still 3000 miles from the Volvo fleet, with "Mapfre" in front

Almost nothing has changed, except the leading theorist in the fourth stage of the Volvo Ocean Race... which is now the Spanish ship "Mapfre." It's midnight when the fleet is 3000 miles from Hong Kong, and the wind is loose from the east... just 5 knots with included calms... the speed of the seven ships as different as the colors that identify them: from a knot to eleven... this is a hopeful... you have to wait.

11 / 01 / 2018: "Vestas" leads the Volvo in the middle of the glow and Hong Kong at 3100 miles

An overview similar to the latest controls... very soft winds of the east component, with constant changes in the positions of the ships... the fruit of the parons and the crouches. The fleet is just over 3100 miles from Hong Kong, and it is still an anecdote now that it leads "Vestas" ahead of "AkzoNobel," "Dongfeng" and "Tum The Tide on Plastic" (the four in 9 miles).

10 / 01 / 2018: The Volvo fleet continues with little wind and the race is at times a positional "lottery"

As Stage 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race approaches its point, frozen memories of the South Ocean are increasingly buried in the minds of the crews

The fourth stage of the Volvo Ocean Race has entered a phase as crazy as it is sometimes desperate. The entry into play of the Doldrums, with their distressing Ecuadorian calms, has turned the race into an exercise of patience and mental control. The classification clearly reflects this madness, to the point that in the 13: 00 UTC position part the fleet leader was the Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag, which a few hours ago was 90 miles from the leader.

However, this classification is not entirely real: the 'tracking' measures the distance that each ship has to the Hong Kong goal, making David Witt's patented ship first classified because it is the one that is most west of the fleet.

Therefore, the ships that are really ahead are the ones that are most north, which in this case are, by this order, Vestas 11th Hour Racing, Dongfeng Race Team, team Akzonobel and Mapfre. The very loose wind in the Doldrums area has brutally compressed the fleet, between the leader and the seventh there are less than six miles apart.

09 / 01 / 2018: The fleet of the Volvo "fondeada" to the east of the archipelago of Solomon

With every mile that the fleet goes up north across the South Pacific, the temperature of both air and water is also rising in a sharp way. The days behind were the days of wearing countless layers of special suits for water and extreme cold in a desperate attempt to stay warm and dry. The crew's dress is already more Hawaiian than polar, with the bermudas and the short sleeve taking the lead again.

The regatists of the Volvo Ocean Race are already fighting extreme heat, an evil that will increase as they approach Ecuador. The lack of wind in the Doldrums only aggravates the problem, slowing its progress through one of the most critical climate areas for the sailors.

When it is eight o'clock in Spain the wind of the north-east barely reaches two knots, causing the fleet when there is a little less than 3300 miles left for Hong Kong, being now the leader of this positional lottery, "Turn The Tide on Plastic" ahead of the "Vestas" (4.2 miles) and "Brunel" (6.0)... the "Mapfre" who suffers much with these conditions of wind and sea, sails more than a dozen miles from the leader.

08 / 01 / 2018: A soft "this" slows down the Volvo fleet and causes the regrouping with "Vestas" in command

We already have "only" 3300 miles Hong Kong at the edge of seven in the afternoon in Peninsular Spain... and in the heart of Solomon's archipelago the wind remains very loose (just 5 knots from the east) and the fleet walks very slowly very grouped and with a speed that barely reaches the six knots in most ships... only "Sun Hung Kai" sails to 11 knots, but it makes it decelerated from the fleet. Now it is the leader of the American ship where Chuny Bermudez de Castro sails, the "Vestas," but in honor of the truth it is a poorly solid leader, for from the first to the sixth there are only nine miles!... that is, and never better, to expect better winds.

07 / 01 / 2018: Total equality in the Volvo: the first four sail within 12 miles

The wind falls as the fleet approaches the Salomon Islands and Ecuador, which has caused a great compression of the differences between the ships

The equality between the fleet in this fourth stage of the Volvo Ocean Race is being enormous. The "Dongfeng" continues to lead ahead of "Mapfre," "AzkoNobel" and "Vestas 11th Hour Racing," which are all within a 12-mile radius, a real insignificance at a stage of these characteristics.

In fact, the entire fleet has been significantly compressed in the last 24 hours, as the leaders first entered the low wind conditions, allowing the back to reduce the distance.

The Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag, for example, which lost 90 miles at 1300 UTC on Saturday, had halved that deficit on Sunday afternoon. Now, only 56 miles are separated from the last, and the unstable climate is expected to continue. Hong Kong is now just over 3400 nautical miles away.

06 / 01 / 2018: "Dongfeng" continues to lead the Volvo 3800 miles from Hong Kong south of Solomon

At the edge of nine o'clock in the night, the Volvo fleet is located in the middle of the Coral, south of the Solomon Islands with east winds of 10 knots, and a fleet speed of about 20 knots... Hong Kong is 3,800 nautical miles away. The order of the fleet is maintained from the last contro, with a "Dongfeng" which is the leader with a very tight distance of less than six miles over the "AkzoNobel" which remains the second and about thirteen over the Spanish "Mapfre." The platoon is completed with those of Chuny Bermudez de Castro, the "Vestas." From here on the differences are increasing, up to the almost 100 miles to which the Sun Hung Kai sails away.

Solomon Islands is an independent island country located in Oceania, in traditional Melanesia. It is part of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Its territory consists of more than 990 islands spread between two archipelagos: the homonymous archipelago, to the south-east of Papua New Guinea, and the Santa Cruz Islands, to the north of Vanuatu. Its capital and most populated city is Honiara, located on the island of Guadalcanal. The islands were discovered by the Spaniards: in 1567 he left El Callao an expedition commanded by Alvaro de Mendaña, taking as captains of the ships to Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa and Pedro de Ortega in search of the Terra Australis Incognita and studying the possibilities of a colonization and exploitation of their resources... on February 7, 1568 they arrived to the first of the islands of the archipelago the two ships of the expedition, Los Reyes and All Saints. The island was named after St. Elizabeth.

06 / 01 / 2018: The Volvo Ocean Race to the Coral Sea with "Dongfeng" of leader

A southeast of 11 knots accompanies the fleet of the Volvo Ocean Race which is now about 4,200 miles from Hong Kong... point and end of the fourth stage that began the day back in Melbourne. Even though the differences between the ships have declined, the positions are maintained with a "Dongfeng" that leads to its stela to the "AzkoNobel" and a little later to the ship to beat... the Spanish "Mapfre" that has improved its last position given by ND until 4.5 nautical miles. For his part, the American "Vestas" in which the Coruñés Chuny Bermudez de Castro sails is in fourth place very close to the head... 8 miles from the French-Chinese.

05 / 01 / 2018: "Mapfre" approaches the head and is already third to 4400 miles from Hong Kong

In the early hours of Friday the positions are maintained in the fourth act of the Volvo Ocean Race, when the whole fleet is already north of Brisbane... the only ostensible variation is that "Mapfre" has come very close to the head of the race, overcoming "Vestas" with which it continues to maintain a huge struggle and in which the Spanish ship now has an advantage. "Dongfeng" is now just over 4400 miles from Hong Kong, and has "AkzoNobel" very close, in the tone of recent days. The winds are now of a southern component, as in the last 48 hours, with a speed of just over 12 knots. The fleet sails between 14 and 18 knots... the fastest the leader.

04 / 01 / 2018: 200 miles south of Brisbane "Dongfeng" and "AkzoNobel" continue to command in the Volvo

Yesterday, the Volvo Ocean Race fleet in its fourth stage route passed through Sydney... in a few hours they will do the same with Brisbane to which they already have about 200 miles... two Australian cities that are legend in the sailing world. The winds now from the south reach 18 knots, which causes the fleet to sail very compact about a hundred miles from the coast, even with significant distances between the head and tail. The lead is still for "Dongfeng," but an eye with "AkzoNobel" attached to his stern: just half a mile from the French-Chinese... already distanced the "Turn The Tide on Plastic" to just over 33 miles... a little further back four miles "Vestas" maintains a quarterless fight with the "Mapfre..." at this time only a couple of miles separate Americans with Spaniards, and a further distance "Brunel" and "Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag" to about 60 miles... Hong Kong is about 4,600 nautical miles away...

03 / 01 / 2018: The winds roll to the NE... the Volvo fleet less than 5,000 miles from Hong Kong

The French-Chinese of the "Dongfeng" are the leaders early Wednesday afternoon, when the wind has risen to 15 knots of north-east component. The American "Vestas" in which the Galician Chuny Bermudez de Castro sails is the fastest in these moments and the only one that reaches 20 knots of speed. Hong Kong is already less than 5,000 nautical miles away, when the fleet tries to reach snow across Sydney, on the east coast of Australia.

02 / 01 / 2018: Vestas leads the Volvo fleet to Hong Kong with a west of 5 knots

On the first sides, the leader of the Volvo Ocean Race, the Mapfre, was at the head of the fleet from the exit pistolet during the 20-mile tour of the ships through Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne in stage 4 that will take you to Hong Kong.

But the competition was very equal from the start, and four hours after the departure, when the fleet was fighting against a complicated state of the sea to clear the narrow entrance to the bay, the Vestas was the 11th Hour Racing was first, with the Spanish ship very close in second place and the Team Brunel third.

Stage 4 is a 5,600 nautical mile stretch from the east coast of Australia, passing through the Coral Sea and going north to Hong Kong, in which it will be the first time the Volvo Ocean Race visits the historic Asian.

For the 11th Hour Racing Vestas, which has the Galician Chuny Bermudez de Castro as one of its points, it is an ideal beginning after having changed pattern. Mark Towill has taken on this role in Stage 4 after Charlie Enright has returned home to attend to a family medical emergency. For Towill and his team, who won Stage 1, this is an opportunity to pressure the race leader, the Spanish Mapfre.

At midnight edge the fleet sails in a handkerchief in the middle of winds of just over 5 knots from the west, with "Vestas" in the head of just under 5,300 nautical miles from Hong Kong, the end of this fourth stage.