Team Sanya heads for Miami

Repairs completed on Mike Sanderson's VO70 in Savannah

Today Team Sanya is due to set sail from Savannah, Georgia, USA to head the 400 miles down the coast to Miami to re-join the Volvo Ocean Race fleet and prepare for the PortMiami InPort race which will take place on Saturday 19 May.

The team are on edge, anxious and committed to get back into the racing action and show what this team is capable of achieving over the remaining racing opportunities still to come in this thrilling event.

Since breaking a rudder and the subsequent discover of a crack in the hull due leg five, so Mike Sanderson's VO70 was shipped to Savannah and with the support of race sponsors DHL and Team Shipping Partner Maersk Line, arrived on schedule on 27 April. Since then the shore team, led by David Duff and Nick Bice, have been busy putting Sanya Lan back into fighting form.

The repairs have since been made at Thunderbolt Marine and the team used the opportunity to complete all the extra jobs needed to put her back into top shape.

The sailing team arrived back into town after their break with tales of fitness challenges achieved during their time off and it was clear they were all race fit and ready for action.

Mike Sanderson, CEO and Team Skipper, commented: “For sure it has been an immensely frustrating time for us all. We cannot help but be glued to following the race action of the rest of the fleet and wondering how we would have fared and where we would be – but now is the time to get back into it and prove what a force we can still be on the water. There are four InPort races and three very exciting legs left in this race yet and plenty of opportunities for us to achieve our team objectives. We can’t wait to get back into racing mode.”

The team plans to depart Savannah today and is scheduled to arrive into Miami on Saturday 12 May ready to re-join the other Volvo Ocean Race competitors.

On their trip they will be joined by ex-Moth World Champion Bora Gulari.