Vendée Globe solo skipper Thomas Ruyant is edging towards South
Island New Zealand and, ideally, the sanctuary of Bluff with as much
urgency has he dare, nursing his broken IMOCA Le Souffle du Nord pour le
Projet Imagine, which threatens to break in two after he hit a large,
hard object on Sunday late afternoon. The young skipper from
the north east of France was motor sailing at around 7.5 to 7.8kts
trying to reach the shelter of the South Island coast before another big
stormy low pressure arrives in the middle of Tuesday.
At 1500hrs TU
this Monday afternoon Ruyant had about 205 miles to make to Bluff, the
most southerly town in New Zealand. Race Direction of the Vendée Globe
is in constant contact with his team and the local MRCC – the Wellington
based RCCNZ – with an evacuation plan ready to be actioned if required,
and track the progress of Ruyant and his wounded IMOCA every six
minutes.
Ruyant sent video footage of the damage
sustained when he hit what he believes to be a shipping container when
he was sailing at around 17kts. It clearly shows vertical open cracks
down to below the waterline on the port side especially, cracking in the
deck and water inside the boat. He spent several hours hove to
(stopped) during Sunday night into Monday. He told Vendée LIVE today:
“The
damage at the front of the boat is spreading. The hull is opening up
and the frame coming away more, everywhere. I’m sailing to the south of
New Zealand. I’m not sure if it will all stay in one piece until then.
What’s good is that I’m in helicopter range, which is reassuring. The
inside hasn’t been affected and with my watertight doors, I’m safe. The
shock was exceptionally violent. It gives me the shivers just thinking
about it. I was at 17-18 knots and came to a sudden standstill hitting
what was probably a container seeing the damage it has done to the hull.
The whole of the forward section exploded and folded up. Luckily the
boat was not dismasted. It was really very violent. I was sleeping on my
beanbag and fortunately I had my head down in that, as I ended up
hitting the mast bulkhead. I found things that were stowed in the stern
right up against the forward bulkhead. They got thrown 10m forward.”
Ruyant’s collision with an unidentified
floating object represents the fifth time that a Vendée Globe competitor
has struck something and been forced out of the race as a consequence
in this edition. Vincent Riou, Morgan Lagraviere, Kito de Pavant and
Bertrand de Broc have all abandoned this race due to damage sustained by
semi-submerged objects of some kind. De Pavant had to abandon his yacht
which is subsequently believed to have capsized following the loss of
its keel. And Alex Thomson, who lies in second place on Hugo Boss, has
his chances currently compromised by the loss of a foil sustained when
it hit something 13 days after the start.
Race
leader Armel Le Cléac’h is now over 500 miles ahead of Alex Thomson,
escaping on to a different weather system from the British skipper. An
initial difference of 15 or so miles has proven critical to the
continued advance of the Breton sailor who has twice finished second in
successive Vendée Globe race. Le Cléac’h is expected to bring his Banque
Populaire VIII round Cape Horn between in the early hours of 23rd
of December, probably becoming the first Vendée Globe skipper ever to
round in December, and Thomson around 48 hours later.
Correspondingly
Thomson looks likely to be the first Vendée Globe skipper to round on
Christmas Day. Armel Le Cléac’h: “Conditions are rather unstable.
I’m on the back of the low and the wind is going from 17 to 30 knots.
The seas are heavy. They aren’t the right conditions for being fast, but
I am making headway. We’re going to have to watch how things change
before the Horn. I asked Father Christmas if I could lead the way around
Cape Horn. We’ll see…”
Enda O’Coineen has been forced into a back to basic approach to navigation and routing on Kilcullen Voyager in 17th
place. He lost two places when he took time out routing to the north to
avoid the worst of the hard weather after being knocked down for five
minutes. The Irish skipper reports that he now has no useful computer
output after his main computer screen was damaged by water. He has a
problem with the configuring of his back up computer which, it is
understood, will not boot up. And so he has resorted to GPS fixes and
paper charts.
“I am sailing in the dark to a certain extent. What I
did to recuperate was to sail north towards Perth. I thought it would be
a nice place for Christmas. I changed my mind. I effectively stopped
for two days. But yesterday I got myself a little bit back together and I
headed and south and east and now I am going east,” O’Coineen said today, adding “Spirits
are good right now. You go through highs and low points, in the day, in
the cycle and over the week. I have certainly had a couple of tough
days and have had a lot of damage. Our shore team are trying to find a
solution.”
Yann Eliès was in a positive frame of
mind today aboard his Quéguiner-Leucémie Espoir, holding sixth behind
Jean-Pierre Dick and ahead of Jean Le Cam. At eight years to the day
since he was rescued after breaking his leg 1000 miles south of
Australia, Eliès sent a timely message to his rescuers: “I was
surprised to get a little video from the doctor and captain of the
frigate that came to rescue me south of Australia eight years ago.
Thanks lads for coming to get me. I can't remember whether I actually
managed to thank you face to face eight years ago. Eight years on and
I'm down to the south of Australia again. But this time I have gone by.
My passion for sailing is still the same. The next time you're in
France, I'll show you around the boat and try to explain why we are so
keen to do this race. Once again, lads, thanks!”
Quotes
Paul Meilhat (SMA):
“I got close to the exclusion zone and the southerly wind is freezing.
Conditions have improved since the low went over the day before
yesterday. We’re on a long tack with the wind on the beam and it’s quite
lively. The wind is going from ten to thirty knots, before stabilising
at 20-25 knots, which finally allowed Maître CoQ and us to step up the
pace. Conditions aren’t what we were expecting in this part of the
world, but I prefer this to fifty knots. I hope the three chasing boats
won’t get too close. I heard about Stéphane’s dismasting and the damage
Thomas has had. I hope they both get safely to port.”
Yann Eliès (Quéginer Leucémie Espoir):
The important thing is we can try to narrow the gap to the two ahead of
us. That way, the fight will be on for third place. It hasn’t been easy
checking everything on the boat with the conditions we have been
through. It’s not the best time to go up on the bow. But overall
everything looks fine. I’m sorry for Thomas. I spoke to him last night.
The photos of his boat are impressive. What’s really sickening is he hit
a UFO. There have been five cases or so of sailors hitting something.
You could split your head open if you are inside at the nav desk or hit
the bulkhead. He was lucky to be on his beanbag. It must have been an
incredible shock. As for the dismasting, it’s always a case of not
knowing why. After that there is the logistical problem. Thomas will end
up in New Zealand, but what’s he going to able to do with his boat?”
Enda O’Coineen (IRL) Kilcullen Voyager-Team Ireland:
“The past three or four days have not been good. Like everyone else in
this part of the fleet we experienced two bad blows one after the other,
I recorded up to 50kts at one stage. The first storm was bad and then
about ten hours later the second one and during it I took a very bad
knock down and the boat was on her side for about five minutes. When I
hear about some of the other competitors I know I am not on my own. I am
devastated for some, I don’t want to hear about boats running into
things. You never know what is going to happen, it is in the lap of the
gods. I will say a few prayers at Christmas.”
Alan ROURA, (La Fabrique):
“I have two or three little problems with my sails, so I’m sailing with
three reefs and the staysail. It’s frustrating to be like that in this
fine weather. I can’t get my mainsail to second reef and for the moment,
I can’t climb the mast. I’ll probably go up tomorrow, when conditions
are likely to be more favourable. It will only take a quarter of an
hour, but it’s a long way up there. I’m finding it hard to come to terms
with the news concerning Stéphane and Thomas. I hope that they’re not
feeling too upset.”
Eric Bellion, (CommeUnSeulHomme):
“I’ve really been at one with my boat for 45 days. She is determined to
go all the way, so we agree about that I carry out checks every day
inside and out. I’m settling into the pace. Although I have always
wanted to complete the Vendée Globe, I have been taking each day as it
comes for the past 43 days. If I had to return home to France, I’m
almost on my way home now anyway even if I haven’t quite finished the
first half of the voyage.”
Nandor Fa (Spirit of Hungary):
“The whole day we’ve been sailing against violent waves, which weren’t
generated by this wind, they are coming from elsewhere. Basically it’s a
very bumpy ride, which is topped with occasional KO hits, which we do
not like but we endure. My eye was caught on a dark spot at the top of
the mainsail, by the end of the top spreader. I quickly reached for my
binoculars to see what’s up there. My first thought was to climb up, but
among these seas, alone, no.The other choice was to bring down the
sail. But I was sailing downwind and didn’t want to stop. Step by step I
winched down the main, while we were sailing at 15 knots with the
reacher. The fibre structure wasn’t damaged, only the outer protection
layer. I washed it carefully with acetone and put a layer of dyneema on
it. To bring it down and then up, it took about 3000 spins on the
pedestal all together. I’m really happy, but tired.”
(www.vendeeglobe.org)
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