Oracle bad-boy Dirk de Ridder makes his return to professional racing with a late callup to Team Brunel for the demanding Southern Ocean crossing of the round the world race that has a delayed start from Auckland on Monday.
It's the first gig for the big Dutch sailor since serving an 18-month suspension for allegedly tampering with a boat used by Oracle in the warmup regattas to the 2013 America's Cup in San Francisco.
De Ridder has long maintained his innocence. He fought the America's Cup jury's decision that saw him tossed out of the cup on the eve of the dramatic final against Team New Zealand.
A subsequent five-year ban by the world's governing body was reduced to three years. De Ridder then took his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport which, after finding fault with both de Ridder and ISAF, reduced the ban to 18 months.
That still cost him a lucrative contract to contest the entire Volvo Ocean Race with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and now he has a consolation place with Team Brunel after Laurent Pages broke two ribs in a fall during the Auckland stopover.
"It's very sad for Laurent that he will miss this leg," De Ridder said.
"I wish him all the best with his recovery. I will give it all that I've got in order to replace him and I would also like to achieve a good result with the team."
De Ridder is a veteran of three round the world races, having won the 2002 edition on board Illbruck Challenge and finishing second with Merit cup in 1997-98 and second with Pirates of the Caribbean in 2005-06.
"Dirk is one of the best trimmers in the world," Team Brunel skipper Bouwe Bekking said.
"I know him well, we have sailed many times together, so I know exactly what to expect of Dirk. During the 1997/98 Whitbread Round the World Race we rounded Cape Horn together aboard Merit Cup.
Team Brunel lie third in the race. His experience will be invaluable in a leg that looks like having a challenging start as a massive swell gets set to descend on Auckland and the opening phase of the route across the Bay of Plenty as Cyclone Pam intensifies.
Volvo Ocean Race officials confirmed the delay on Thursday. The yachts had been expected to leave Auckland on Sunday, but predictions of massive swell and strong winds have seen the organisers take the safety precaution.
They said the boats would not leave Auckland now before 2pm on Monday. A final decision would be made at noon on Friday as to whether there would be a further delay beyond that.
"Safety first," Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad said on Thursday evening.
"We're making this decision now because we don't know the exact track of this tropical cyclone yet.
"It's unusually big and essentially it's blocking the road for our sailors, so it's prudent seamanship from our side to leave them with options."
The current forecasts suggest the tropical cyclone, which has already racked up winds of 200km/h, could strengthen further as it heads south. Even if the system misses New Zealand, large swells and rough seas could still cause real problems for the fleet.
"Our biggest concern is the sea state, rather than the wind," Frostad said.
"The boats can handle a lot of wind, but there will be very big waves along the New Zealand coast, with nowhere to hide.
"We are not going to have the boats leaving Auckland before 2pm on Monday, but it could also be later. It depends completely on the movement of this tropical cyclone."
The boast are due to have an in-port race on the Waitemata Harbour on Saturday.
This leg is a 6776 nautical mile haul from Auckland to Itajai in Brazil, taking in the most treacherous stretch of ocean in the world with freezing temperatures and huge seas and gales.
Source: Stuff
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