TOLOTOLO O TAMA ULI TO SIT OUT THIS YEAR'S TEUILA FAUTASI REGATTA

It has been confirmed that the victor of this year's 60th Independence Fautasi Race, the Tolotolo o Tama Uli from Salelologa, will not be taking part in the forthcoming race for the Teuila Festival scheduled for next month.

During an interview with Eyespy Radio, Pauli Joe Pauli, the skipper of the Tolotolo o Tama Uli crew, stated that because their boat sustained damage during the 60th Independence race, they would not be competing in the upcoming Teuila Festival sailing regatta.

"As our fautasi was being towed home by a motorboat after the Independence race, the rope pulling the vessel broke due to the roughness of the waves. The incident caused damages to the vessel's bow, its middle, and its stern," said Pauli.

He said that there wasn't enough time or money for the fautasi's broken components to be fixed in time for the Teuila regatta, especially given that the 62 crew members who competed in the winning Independence race shared the $60,000 prize money equally with the Salelologa community.

Despite this problem, Pauga said that they are sure to participate in the independence race next year because all his crew members are still available.