He donned a wetsuit, flippers and a diving mask, and steeled himself for the task. Ambrogio Beccaria decided to dive under the hull of his IMOCA. After putting the boat on a dead leg to ensure maximum stability, he prepared to dive. In a striking video, he takes a deep breath for several seconds before stepping out onto the deck and then diving in. He removes the net and the buoy that had become tangled in the keel before surfacing. To do so, Ambrogio had to try five times. After the successful attempt, he begins shouting with joy in the cockpit.
“It was a real adventure,” he commented afterwards. “To free the keel, I had to dive at least five times: there was a rope attached to a buoy, but anchored to the seabed, and the tension was enormous. It took several attempts before I managed to remove it completely. The water… I thought it would be colder, but it wasn’t easy all the same, especially because the current was causing the boat to drift.” Yet another adventure in this race where, quite simply, nothing is easy. “Since the start, so much has already happened to me!”
This Wednesday morning, the Allagrande Mapei skipper is in 5th place, 150 miles behind Sam Goodchild and less than 25 miles behind Francesca Clapcich (11th Hour Racing, 4th).
