Team Adventure limps back toward Maine port Record quest aborted after early mishap at sea

Harbor officials in Southwest Harbor were on alert late Friday night as the boat and crew of an aborted trans-Atlantic record attempt were expected there Saturday morning, harbor master Joe LaChance said.

The Team Adventure, a 122-foot-long catamaran co-skippered by Cam Lewis of Lincolnville, was damaged at sea and turned back on Friday, less than a day after it began its journey.

“They’re limping back to the west,” said LaChance, the manager of Dysart’s Great Harbor Marina. “They lost maybe 30 feet of the port bow … They’re in a bit of distress.”

LaChance said he last talked with Lewis over a satellite telephone connection at about 9:30 p.m. and estimated that Lewis and his crew would be back in about eight hours depending on the conditions.

“It was blowing like a monkey before but it’s flat now,” he said. “So who the hell knows.”

The Team Adventure had set off from New York Harbor on Thursday afternoon. The Team Adventure is co-skippered by French sailor Laurent Bourgnon.

The vessel was sailing off Nova Scotia in pre-dawn darkness and fog Friday when the crew heard a loud bang, said Team Adventure spokesman Keith Taylor.

Taylor said the boat’s port bow had broken and its 150-foot mast was in danger of crashing. The crew immediately worked to stabilize the mast, Taylor said, and tied the section of broken bow back to the hull.

No one aboard was hurt, and sea conditions at the time were moderate, Taylor said. He said it’s possible the boat hit a submerged object, but the cause was not immediately determined.

“They need major repairs,” Taylor said. “Their major concern is to get the boat and crew home safely and preferably without outside assistance.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.