Vendee Globe - A scary moment for Sébastien Destremau

by Vendee Globe on 22 Dec 2016 This afternoon at 0330hrs UTC and whilst TechnoFirst-faceOcean was sailing in a strong 30 knots of wind with three reefs in the mainsail and the J3, with her skipper inside, a rogue wave put the boat on her side, mast in the water.

'We've just capsized like a dinghy. I was standing on the cabin top inside and was absolutely dead certain that we were going over. But after a few seconds, she slowly came back up right. It was like a miracle really,' said a shaken Sébastien minutes after the event.

A quick check of the boat reassured the skipper that nothing major went wrong during the incident however a thorough inspection will be done at day break. The boat is back to sailing mode. However she is now sailing 15 degrees lower to have a better angle with the waves.