Transat Jacques Vabre - Racing, Rescue and container strike on Day 2

by Sail-World.com NZL on 28 Oct 2015 Evacuations and more damage marked Day 2 of the Transat Jacques Vabre. In the race itself, the advance of a high pressure zone will affect the competitors who opted for the more conservative southerly route.

Lead changes are expected.

While a high pressure ridge threatens to slow the Ultime’s positive progress south, the good news for the highly competitive IMOCA class is that the leaders have reached the awaited windshift which has allowed them to point their bows south west, out of the worst of a low pressure and at least in the direction of the finish line some 4800 miles away in Itajai?. But for the Class 40s and some of the later IMOCAs a new low pressure is the next big threat. 35 of the entry of 42 boats are still heading for Itajai?
Lemonchois and Bilou


Transat Jacques Vabre 2015 - Helitreuillage de... by TransatJacquesVabre

Rescued:
Lionel Lemonchois and Roland Jourdain whose Ultime multi Prince de Bretagne capsized just after 1900hrs UTC Monday night, 140 miles NW of La Coruna resisted the option of activating their distress beacon and seeking outside assistance for as long as possible. But with 30kts winds this afternoon and four metres waves and the prospect of 40kts tomorrow Wednesday they triggered their beacon this afternoon around 1520hrs UTC. They consulted with their partners and shore team, keeping up to date with Transat Jacques Vabre Race Direction, and in the end the skippers safety is the main priority. CROSS Gris Nez and MRCC Madrid successfully coordinated their evacuation and by 1700hrs UTC the duo were in a helicopter.

Safran, Edmond de Rothschild IMOCA problems, Team Concise out in Class 40 As well as the capsize of the 24m Prince de Bretagne, two key, new IMOCA 60s are returning to France having issues as has the British flagged Team Concise, the Ker designed Class 40 of Jackson Bouttell and Gildas Mahe.

Overall Positions:
Date : 27/10/15 - 18h30

Class40
1 - Le Conservateur
2 - V and B
3 - Bretagne Cre?dit Mutuel Elite
Multi50
1 - Ciela Village
2 - Arkema
3 - Fene?tre?A Prysmian
Imoca
1 - Queguiner - Leucemie Espoir 2 - Le souffle du Nord
3 - PRB
Ultime
1 - Sodebo 2 - Macif
3 - Actual

Damage and evacuation update:
Edmond de Rothschild Mono60 foiler - Sebastien Josse & Charles Caudrelier suffered structural damage and arrived in Crosshaven, Cork at 1630hrs UTC Tuesday and has retired. Edmond de Rothschild and Safran, both new foil assisted IMOCAs announced problems on Monday evening. Structural damage around the foil box appears to have been serious for Morgan Lagraviere and Nico Lunven and they are heading for Brest, while Sebastien Josse and Charles Caudrelier reported a succession of problems which compromised their safety and their race which precipitated their decision to abandon.

Morgan Lagravière, skipper of the Mono60 Safran (IMOCA), retired and heading to Brest with hull damage around the foils:

'The area around the foils is seriously damaged. There is a leak here on the starboard side of the boat. It has spread around the foils area, the compartment bulkhead areas in front and behind are area affected in the front and rear of that area.

'After the incident we tacked, we are on the tack now to return to France. It is 150 miles to Brest in the right direction. We did not have so much sea it was 3-4 meters waves, 25-knot wind, conditions that we had seen before. We were sailing the boat close to the to the maximum level. It was not particularly rough. It was going quickly, so the boat was of jumping, but nothing extraordinary.

'We should get there in the middle of the night. We are sailing at a speed of 13-15 knots, so we still have a good ten hours before arriving. '

Mono60 - lead change Elies in front:

In the IMOCA class it is, as predicted, all change at the front of the fleet. As soon as the westerly group got to the NWly breeze and slanted their bows SW then they were immediately gaining on the pack which were hunting 180 miles to their south and east.
SMA, Paul Meilhat and Michel Desjoyeaux, were first to tack from their northerly position but Yann Elies and Charlie Dalin onQueguiner-Leucemie Espoir (ex Safran) had set up better to the south of the centre of the low, tacking a little after 0800hrs this morning. Making over 16kts heading SW Queguiner seized the lead which had been held since Monday morning by Hugo Boss.

Alex Thomson and Guillermo Altadill still have some westing to make, indeed they were heading NW this evening, pointing at the rival group, and had dropped to seventh. At the front of the main pack Elies and Dalin lead PRB4, Vincent Riou and Seb Col, by just over 32 miles.

Class 40 - Le Conservateur threaten:
In Class 40, the first of the most westerly group to make a move SW is Le Conservateur, 2011 winner Yannick Bestaven who sails the 2014 Verdier design with Pierre Brasseur. They should cross the bows of V and B, the new Manuard design of Maxime Sorel, and take their lead early this evening, while Solidaires en Peloton continue as the most NW of the fleet.

Slowed?....Hardly....

At the latitude of Gibraltar this evening the overall race leaders Sodebo Ultim’, Thomas Coville and Jean-Luc Nelias were still making 21kts with a lead extended to 57 miles over MACIF. Nelias today recalled the very gusty conditions of Monday evening which doubtless contributed to the capsize of Prince de Bretagne.

“The wind is very variable going from 14 to 33 knots in the squalls. There’s quite a heavy swell developing. We haven’t been able to get much sleep and haven’t got into the rhythm of a watch system. We’ve been too busy out on deck.”

Lamire and Bourgnon hit container, damaged and abandon race:

In the Multi 50s Gilles Lamire and Yvan Bourgnon are heading for a safe haven after hitting a container and damaging their floats on French Tech Rennes Saint Malo. The situation is under control and the crew is well.

Lamire: 'We were sailing at a speed of 15 knots beam reaching towards the south, on autopilot. Everything was going well when the boat stopped dead. I saw a piece of float behind the boat and a container into the sea. '

Bourgnon reported “ We are missing 5 to 6m on the port float and the starboard float is damaged 1m. The challenge now is to bring the boat back on a single float. Our weather router works out the best way to get into the best possible conditions. We are moving at reduced speed (6 knots) under sail to Brest that we should be there in the next three days. '

From the boats:

Gildas Mahe, co-skipper Class 40 Team Concise: “We had decided to slow down, the wind was heading. The seas grew and the boat jumped two or three times. There is some cracking and it is not good to be at sea when it is like that. It was a jump, we heard a big crack. We went inside the boat and this seems to have generated some structural problems. It’s better it happened here than in the middle of the Bay of Biscay. We were happy, we had been sailing the boat well, we made the good strategic choice. It was cool.

We will arrive in Crosshaven soon and Dave Kenefick (Figaro sailor)’s parents will welcome us and we will have a team to help us assess the damage. We are positive but there are parts detached under the mast and that is not good, and there are large cracks in the walls and in some structural elements. We will make a really detailed examinations before making our decision.”

Francois Gabart, co skipper MACIF, Ultime: “We’re still in fairly heavy seas with a wind that is not very stable. And we’ve quite a few things that don’t work. So we have plenty of repair jobs to do. It’s not easy to do two things at once. Luckily there are two of us. For the moment, it’s in particular a problem with the electronics. Mechanically and structurally, we’re coping reasonably well. The boat cuts through the waves well and it’s fairly pleasant. Even though with a variable wind, the boat tends to take off at times. So we have to remain cautious. For the moment, I’m pleased about this baptism of fire. We’re heading south trying to get away from this disturbed area.

Morgan Lagraviere, skipper of Safran (IMOCA), heading to Brest:

'The area around the foils is seriously damaged. There is a leak here on the starboard side of the boat. It has spread around the foils area, the compartment bulkhead areas in front and behind are area affected in the front and rear of that area. After the incident we tacked, we are on the tack now to return to France. It is 150 miles to Brest in the right direction. We did not have so much sea it was 3-4 meters waves, 25-knot wind, conditions that we had seen before. We were sailing the boat close to the to the maximum level. It was not particularly rough. It was going quickly, so the boat was of jumping, but nothing extraordinary. We should get there in the middle of the night. We are sailing at a speed of 13-15 knots, so we still have a good ten hours before arriving. '