More wreckage from the ill-fated ‘Team Phillips’ Catamaran has been found off Shetland. The vessel’s problems began with an unscheduled stop in Scilly in 2000 when a bow section broke off.
In March 2000, the Quay on St. Marys was flooded by locals, visitors and media organisations from across the country. They were all there to see the Team Philips Catamaran which has sustained heavy damage in sea trials off The Islands. The two bow structures of this massive and high tech sailing boat, the biggest catamaran ever, had sustained “mass structural damage” and the St. Marys lifeboat had to tow her into the Islands.
This was just the start in a catalogue of errors, which concluded in the skipper, Pete Goss, and his crew ‘abandoning ship’ mid Atlantic. After she has been repaired from her incident off the Islands, the masts were deemed unsafe and several other changes were made. One of the crew declared her entirely unsafe and quit the team.
All her crew were saved by a container ship travelling to Nova Scotia, Canada, but the vessel was left behind. An extensive search failed to locate the vessel and the next that was heard of her, was of wreckage being found of Ireland and Iceland.
This latest chapter in the Team Phillips saga seems to be a sad conclusion of the ambitious project. The thirty foot piece of wreck was found on the Shetland Island of ‘Papa Stour’ by a local who reportedly wishes to turn the wreckage into a bench and visitor attraction.