40 Degrees breaks mast, Out of 1st Leg of The Atlantic Cup

by Jeff Pomeroy on 12 May 2012 In an unfortunate case of equipment failure 40 Degrees, skippered by Hannah Jenner and Peter Harding, had their cap shroud fail, which led to their mast breaking while departing the Charleston Harbor ending their chances of sailing 40 Degrees in this leg of the Atlantic Cup.

However, they are exploring options to get another boat to the start of the New York leg of the race. Both crewmembers are okay from this completely unforeseen and highly atypical incident.

The race started after a twenty-five minute delay at 6:25 p.m. ET featuring 15 boats from around the globe, the most Class 40s to ever compete in the United States, including teams from the USA, France, Germany and Great Britain.

Hannah Jenner, 40 Degrees Skipper
'I’ve sailed this boat through hideous weather and situations where you expect the rig to fall down and instead it’s a flat calm day in the harbor which is probably pretty fortunate. It’s disappointing; not going to say it’s not. We worked very hard to be here and this was the first double-handed race of the season and now we have to reassess the program.'

Link to video of mast breaking http://youtu.be/RWHSkrF_Zus

The 14 remaining teams will continue en route to New York Harbor. Models are showing an estimated arrival time of sometime early Tuesday morning, May 15 The second leg of the competition departs on May 19 at 11 a.m. The annual event culminates in Newport, R.I. with two days of Inshore racing (May 26 – 27).

About The 2012 Atlantic Cup

The Atlantic Cup presented by 11th Hour Racing is a dedicated professional Class 40 race held annually in the U.S. with a focus on running an environmentally responsible event. The 2012 edition of the Atlantic Cup starts Friday, May 11th in Charleston, South Carolina and will showcase the top Class 40 sailors in the world as they race a 642 nautical mile off-shore leg double-handed from Charleston around the infamous, Cape Hatteras then north to New York City.

Once in New York there will be a brief stopover before competitors start the coastal leg of the race. The coastal leg will take competitors along the same course as the 2011 race: 231 nautical miles, south out of New York to a turning mark off the New Jersey coast before heading north to Newport.

Once in Newport, competitors will race a two-day, inshore series with a crew of six. The combined overall winner of both stages will be the Atlantic Cup Champion. The prize purse will be $30,000, making it again one of the largest purses for sailing in the United States.

For more information please on The Atlantic Cup please visit the Website at www.AtlanticCup.org