In Port Elizabeth, South Africa, tonight, the decision was made by the Brasil 1 team that the damage to the boat could be repaired and that the team will be back out on the race track to complete leg two of the Volvo Ocean Race next Tuesday. The ground crew of six have been working on the boat since yesterday afternoon. Technical director, Horacio Carabelli, said, “we are repairing the damaged areas and adding some structural parts to strengthen this region even further. These repairs should be of a definite nature so that when we arrive in Australia, we don’t have to work too much on the boat to get it ready for the in-port race in Melbourne and for the leg to Rio de Janeiro.”

Brasil 1 should arrive in Melbourne just in time for the in-port race, scheduled for February 4. It will be a tough turnaround for this team, who will have approximately four days before the in-port race and then another five days before the start of the third off-shore leg, to get the boat ready. “Somos brasileiros e não desistimos nunca,” translated from Portuguese means, “We are Brazilians, and we never give up.”

Ericsson (Neal McDonald), the other boat to suffer damage, has reached Port Elizabeth and has suspended racing.

Life is good for those further south, as the fleet reaches at 18 knots towards the mark in flat water, in close formation. “The water is slowly getting cooler, however the game is still HOT out here. Bigger breeze coming for the next few days…. Hook in and hang on,” wrote Paul Cayard (Pirates of the Caribbean) tonight.

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