Tough luck for the KIWI 40 at the Normandy Channel Race

After a remarkable recovery from a rocky start in last position to becoming the leader of the race, we are sad to announce that, due to a mid-race collision, the KIWI 40 Roaring Forty 2 was forced to retire from the Normandy Channel Race.

Yesterday (24/5/11) at approximately 10.00 GMT, we received the news that the KIWI 40
sailing in the Normandy Channel Race had a collision with a metal object (thought to be a
pipe or cable) that was being towed by a tug boat. Although not a major impact, one of the
rudders was damaged as a result and the skipper Michel Kleinjans took the decision to
abandon the race and recover back in Newport (Belgium) for the necessary repairs. Winds at 35-40 knots were forecasted at the Fastnet and it would have been foolish to continue.

We would like to congratulate the skipper Michel Kleinjans and co-skipper Marc
Lepesqueux for a truly amazing performance that made it difficult to guess their boat had
very limited time (15 days!) for testing and verifications following build completion.

Despite this, the crew and their beast were able to not only catch up to the fleet from 15th,
but were widening a gap of several miles while in first position at the time of impact. A
slightly frustrating end to a solid initial performance that gave us a tease of the success the boat is undoubtedly capable of. We look forward to the KIWI40’s next showcase of
competitiveness.