Cayard to sit out rest of opening leg of Volvo Ocean Race

American skipper Paul Cayard will not attempt to finish the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, choosing instead to repair his damaged yacht, the Black Pearl, and then ship it to Cape Town for the start of the second leg.

The Disney-sponsored Black Pearl was one of three yachts damaged during a storm on the first day at sea last weekend following the start of the round-the-world race at Vigo, Spain.

The Black Pearl sustained serious damage near the keel as well as a broken bulkhead, forcing Cayard to sail to port. New parts have to be made in Britain and flown to Portugal, which will take more than a week, followed by repairs that will take three or four days, Cayard said in an e-mail.

If the crew attempted to sail to Cape Town, it would arrive just before a scheduled in-port race on Dec. 26, and Cayard hopes to avoid further damage that could force the boat out of the second leg.

Cayard plans to have the 70-foot (21-meter) boat flown to Cape Town "and rejoin the race in an organized and prepared manner," he said. "I need to turn this negative into a positive. With my team, we believe we have devised a plan to do that."

Disney is sponsoring the Black Pearl as a promotion for "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," the first of two sequels to "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.", AP reported. V.A.