Alan Roberts reflects on 'eventful' start after opening leg crash

South Wales Argus

21 hours ago

When Alan Roberts dreamed about the start of The Ocean Race Europe, a crash to kick off leg one that left a huge hole in his boat would have been pretty much the nightmare scenario.
But that is exactly what the 35-year-old Southampton sailor had to deal with in Kiel at the start of the 4,500-nautical-mile multi-stage offshore race.
A collision with a competitor knocked Team Holcim – PRB out of the opening leg of the race, but despite suffering serious damage, they have been able to recover and will re-join the race in Portsmouth for the second leg.
Roberts explained: 'It's been eventful so far. We had the incident at the start of leg one, we had a collision with another boat, which was pretty devastating.
'We had a pretty big hole in the hull, about two metres high and one metre wide, so it was pretty significant. We were taking water on board, but it could have been a lot worse, it probably could have sunk the boat.
'Luckily, we reacted pretty quickly. We have managed to fix it, we are in good shape now and back up to 100 per cent, but if the collision had been half a metre further forward, we would have lost the mast, if it had been 20 centimetres further down on the hull, we'd have lost the boat. It hit right in the spot where it had the least impact.
'It hasn't been the most restful time, but we're glad to be back in the race because it could have been a lot worse.'
After suffering the collision, it was all systems go for the team, with each member settling into their role to try to ensure the race was not over almost as soon as it had begun.
For Roberts, whose background is in naval architecture and boat building, that meant finding the solution to getting the boat back in the water as soon as possible.
While he focused on repairing the boat, others looked ahead to the weather conditions for leg two, and a further group was tasked with mounting a protest over the incident.
That will be heard in Spain by an international jury, but in the meantime, Team Holcim – PRB are looking to achieve their ambitious goals for the race.
Roberts said: 'We're back at 100 per cent, so we are good to go. We should be a bit fresher than the other teams. It allows us a bit of extra energy, but it's going to be full on because the fleet is pretty close.
'There will be quite a bit of breeze for the first 24 hours or so as we sail across the English Channel towards France. We're back to our original goal which is not just to take part but to win. We're going to see what we can do in this leg.'
Seven international teams, seven stopovers, 4,500 nautical miles, racing for the ocean. The Ocean Race Europe takes place 10 - 21 September 2025 and features seven British sailors across the fleet.