Ocean race crew tell of amazing escape after reef collision

(Reuters) – The shipwrecked Team Vestas Wind crew made it back to civilization in the global Volvo Ocean Race yesterday to tell of their escape after a collision with an Indian Ocean reef which grounded and broke their boat.

The exhausted, uninjured nine-man team were left stranded for three days in the remote archipelago, in an area populated by sharks, after their boat ran into the reef on Saturday.

When the crew arrived at dockside in Mauritius, Chris Nicholson, their 45-year-old Australian skipper, explained he was still piecing together his emotions after the crash which has forced the team to pull out of the race.