News Report
Australian Waterspout
Script
A big twister struck the Sydney to Hobart yacht race late on Wednesday, nearly knocking out the team highly favored to win, Nicorette.
Disaster struck the Swedish maxi yacht off the east coast of Australia, tearing its mainsail and nearly carrying away skipper Ludde Ingvall.
When asked about his encounter with the waterspout, Ingvall described the experience as “surreal”.
Ingvall, a seasoned sailor, said that he’s seen twisters before but had always managed to avoid them. This one, however, seemed to be following them and they had no choice but to go right through the middle of it.
The encounter with the twister forced Nicorette to drop into fifteenth place overnight.
Crew member valiantly battled extreme weather while attempting to keep the yacht o course.
Skipper Ingvall reported that the team was now in sixth place and making up ground with the use of its backup mainsail.
Nicorette managed to get back on track on Thursday, closing the gap on team Illbruck of Germany, the current leader.
This footage from video taken aboard the Nicorette shows the terrible conditions they experienced as they struggled to stay in the race.
It took real teamwork to get the unlucky yacht back into this position. Even under these harshest of conditions, the Nicorette team managed to work together to make a miraculous recovery. But the team has a history of successful teamwork.
Last year, Nicorette achieved the second-fastest line honors victory in the 57-year history of the 630 nautical mile Sydney to Hobart race. The only yacht to surpass Nicorette’s time was the 60-foot Danish Nokia, setting the record of 1day, 19 hours, 48 minutes, and 2 seconds in 1999.
Earlier on Thursday, 8 of the 75 entrants dropped out of the race after a night of thunderstorm activity and winds of up to 30 knots.
Team Illbruck is the overall winner so far after two legs o the race, but there is still more race to go.
Boat are currently en route to Auckland, New Zealand as they begin the third leg of the around the world race.
Nicorette still has a chance to finish in one of the top spots despite the incredible obstacle that almost stopped them.
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