A job well done

With only a matter of hours to go before Team Sanya started Leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race, Greg Salthouse and his team of boys were heading to the airport, New Zealand bound, a job well done.
While this type of work is nothing completely out of the ordinary for Salthouse Boatbuilders, this particular project certainly had its challenges, with time restraints being a major factor. The Salthouse team offered their expertise in high tech race yacht construction and with some fantastic organization from Duffy and his Team Sanya shore crew, a huge effort from Ian Lovering and his painting crew and a fair amount of hard work from Greg and the boys, we can safely say that Team Sanya are back in the race with every chance of gaining some great results from here on in.
We wish them well; it's been a privilege to be involved with such a professional and dedicated team.

So here's something to think about....

So - heres something to think about - in 7 days, Team Sanya's Volvo70 has gone from having 8 men standing with their heads inside a gaping hole in the hull, to having this complete shiny, glistening new bow section . Well done boys - all of you!!!

Now with only a matter of hours before the boat goes back in the water this article gives a quick rundown on the repair job as it progressed...

Greg Salthouse and his team of 5 expert boat builders are a long way from home in New Zealand and a long way from that midnight phone call a month ago that had them packing their bags and flying ½ way round the world to help Team Sanya with a major hull repair of their Volvo70.
Team Sanya had damaged their bow section early in leg1 of the Volvo Ocean Race. And while all her crew where unscathed in the incident, the boat certainly was not. Early reports showed a gaping hole in the bow section and after making their way safely to port, the boat was then set on a ship bound for Cape Town for a rendezvous with 'rescue repair team'.
For the Salthouse boys the first 2 weeks in Cape Town where spent building a male plug and laying up the laminate to create an oversize bow section that would ultimately replace the damaged portion. Time was ticking and the pressure was on to have the new bow section completed by the time the boat arrived safely into the hands or her waiting Team Sanya crew.
On arrival and within minutes of the boat being settled on the dock at Cape Town, the Salthouse boys where assessing damage and preparing to cut into the hull. Once the damaged portion was removed, the new hull section was then ‘trimmed’ to fit and ‘voila’ – no more holes!! If only it was that easy!! There has been a lot of work done in a very short period of time with some dirty, dusty and very tired boys from Salthouse Boatbuilders.The aim for Team Sanya is to have the boat in the water by December 7th, ready for the in port race before the start of leg2 on December 11th.

Keep up with reports on www.facebook/salthouseboatbuilders

Long hours and hard work starting to show some results...

It's been a busy time for our hard working team of Salthouse boys in Cape Town. Not only have they managed to build a plug and bow section for the Team Sanya Volvo70 but now that the boat has arrived in Cape Town they have been doing some long hours of messy work cutting away the damaged hull section and replacing with the new.

This article from the Volvo Ocean Race website....
Although only unloaded from a cargo ship just two days ago, amazingly Team Sanya’s badly holed Volvo Open 70 is today a complete boat once more.
“It would be a truly amazing accomplishment to have the boat back so soon” Richard Mason - Team Sanya boat captain.
Although far from ready to sail again, the team have made remarkable progress in such a short time and are still confident of having the boat fully ready to compete in the Cape Town In-Port Race on December 10. A huge team, including a crack squad of repair specialists flown in from Salthouse Boatbuilders in New Zealand, have been working around the clock to cut away the badly delaminated bow and replace it with a new custom made section.Sanya boat captain Richard Mason said: “It is absolutely incredible to be where we are after only 48 hours. The boys are doing a fantastic job and everything is coming together on schedule. “It would be a truly amazing accomplishment to have the boat back so soon.” While the boat builders continue their mission to restore Sanya to her former glory, the sailing crew have been engaged in an intense training program at a local gym to ensure they are in peak condition when the boat is ready to sail, team MCM Andrés Soriano reports.In the early hours of Saturday morning the sailors will run to the top of Cape Town’s Lions Head Peak, a climb of 2,195 feet (669 metres) above sea level, before returning to the team base to prepare their gear in anticipation of a planned training sail on December 7.
See more of the Salthouse boys progress with Team Sanya on our facebook..... www.facebook.com/salthouseboatbuilders