Giovanni Soldini announced that Maserati had been forced to pull out of the RORC Caribbean 600 Race after a hydraulic tube fitting for the keel broke.
“It’s a real pity this happened”. Giovanni Soldini’s words reveal his disappointment at being forced to retire from the seventh RORC Caribbean 600 Race after a hydraulic failure jammed Maserati’s keel. “We are really upset because we were having a great race. It was thrilling, fun and super-competitive. Now we have to try to make some kind of temporary repairs. The next stop for us is Panama where we hope to solve the issue once and for all.”
Maserati’s captain Guido Broggi explained what happened: “A fitting on the tube that feeds the pump on the motor broke. All the oil from the tank leaked into the bilge and right now we can’t move the keel. With the keel stuck in the centre, we can really only sail in virtually survival conditions.”
A few minutes before 18.00 local time (23.00 in Italy) Giovanni Soldini announced Maserati’s retirement from the Caribbean race. At that point and having cast off from Antigua on February 23, Maserati was lying third of the monohulls in real time and was going head-to-head with Bella Mente, on which the VOR 70 had just made up several miles. Rambler and Leopard were out in front. After the incident, the Italian crew made their way back to English Harbour, Antigua, arriving there this morning (Italian time).
