L'Hydroptère's Trans-Atlantic attempt over

by Richard Gladwell on 1 Jul 2005 The trans-Atlantic record attempt of the French sailing hydrofoil L'Hydroptère has been cut short when she hit an unidentified floating object.

Departing from Cadiz on Tuesday morning for the Atlantic crossing, Alain Thébault and his crew were forced to retire, having struck an unidentified floating object last evening, a little before 8.00pm.

The severe shock occurred while the multihull was progressing under gennaker at 20-25 knots near the high Grand’Voile, 50 nautical miles from Lanzarote.

According to the crew, they found there had been an impact on the port side foil, which caused a twist in the connection arm. This is a difficult and unfortunate event for Hydroptère, which was on its way to succeeding in a first Atlantic crossing. Thébault and his team-mates called in at Lanzarote and will decide if they repairs on the spot or head to France.

Account of the shock by Alain Thébault:

'After a careful departure from Cadiz, and a day on the sea in a light wind varying from 10 to 15 knots, the Hydroptère began increasing her speed to between 20 and 25 knots under the the high Grand’Voile, gennaker and fore-staysail.

'The sea was then formed with 2 to 2.5 metres of hollow. We were positioned at 50 miles north from Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. Suddenly we felt a violent shock! Projected against the partition while we were asleep, Jean-Mathieu and I joined Jacques, François and Pollux on the deck. We could see the impact of the foil and its consequences of the arm.

'Fortunately, these elements, built by Airbus Nantes, did not suffer that much damage. Only an aluminum vein and the torsion box set at the end of the arm are to be replaced.'

Source: www.hydroptere.com