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When he arrived in Lorient, Riva was immediately taken to the Ter Clinic in Ploemeur for X rays and a detailed examination, which confirmed that he has multiple fractures of his tibia. The 31 year old skipper from Milan, who is a close friend of Ambrogio Beccaria and helped prep Alla Grande Pirelli for the Route du Rhum, only launched his new boat in August and was competing in his first Coffee Race alongside French sailor, Jean Marre.
Riva recalls: “I was up at the bow, kneeling down to get the J1 halyard back in place, when a nasty wave threw me across the deck. I hurt myself when I landed on my knees. Unfortunately this has brought our Transat Jacques Vabre to an end.”
Acrobatica, which was racing for the first time, had got off to a good start and moved up in the first few hours of racing to lie fifth place at one point.
“The first part of the race was very interesting and intense“, explained Jean Marre, co-skipper on Acrobatica. “Things went well during the night. We made the right strategic choices and the very difficult conditions were an excellent test for the boat. When I saw that Albi was injured, my first reaction to get him to safety inside the boat. We opened the first aid kit and followed the procedures. We called up the Race Doctor who gave us some advice. After that, it was all about bringing the boat and Albi to port as quickly as possible. Apart from in the final stretch, we had to ease off a bit to get to Lorient, where we had a great welcome and everyone helped us.”
