#ClipperRace - The Greenings team’s grounded Clipper Race yacht has still not been salvaged due to red tape around its sensitive location, as South Africa’s Times Live reports.
The vessel ran aground off the Cape Peninsula on Tuesday 31 October just hours after the fleet set out on the third leg of the round-the-world yacht race.
Two weeks on and the boat is beached near Olifantsbospunt, a protected area within Table Mountain National Park.
That means any efforts to remove the vessel are subject to environmental legislation over potential damage by the heavy equipment that would be required.
Wildfires on the mainland nearby have also delayed action on the yacht, which has had its fuel removed along with loose fittings to avoid pollution.
However, the €6 million boat remains vulnerable to looters, says local salvage diver Gary Mills, who claims government officials should have acted sooner while it was wedged on a nearby reef.
Members of the Greenings crew will be reallocated across the rest of the fleet from the start of the next leg from Fremantle to Sydney next month.
In other Clipper Race news, the Unicef team has been awarded 2 hours and 33 minutes redress by the race committee after their rescue stand-by delay at the start of Race 3.
Final race positions for Race 3: the Dell Latitude Rugged Race will be announced after redress has been applied to the elapsed time.
As of Wednesday morning (15 November) the bulk of the fleet has now passed the halfway mark en route to Fremantle in western Australia.
The sailors on Sanya Serenity Coast have extended their lead to almost 160 nautical miles over nearest rivals PSP Logistics, as fast downwind conditions have been replaced by shifting winds and lighter airs for many teams.
