Vendee Globe- Temenos II Retires from race

by Kate Jennings - Expression on 14 Dec 2008
Official retirement of Temenos II from Vendee Globe.

We can imagine that it was with a heavy heart that Dominique must have made up his mind to inform race management of his retirement from the race this afternoon. Making a pit-stop in the Kergelen Islands, after having received outside assistance, Dominique was therefore forced to retire from the race.

Domininque Wavre (Temenos II). It was no surprise that the disappointment and sadness was palpable in Dominique’s voice when questioned at the Race HQ link-up today. Indeed, it was with a heavy heart that the skipper has seen months, not to mention years of preparation suddenly vanish to nothing.

Battling with Marc Guillemot and Yann Elies, whose lead he had been eating into for the past two days, even gaining an edge over Generali at the 1600 hour ranking yesterday, Dominique seemed very much at one with himself on tasting, for the 8th time, the salt of these austral seas he holds so dear.

During the radio session the skipper related how he had suddenly been 'alerted by the massive heeling of the boat as she broached over onto her side'.

Though he initially thought it was a broach to leeward, once on deck he immediately understood that the diagnosis was a lot more serious. 'At the point where the keel broke I was flat out. I was down below and had to climb up the walls to get out. I went up top to ease the sheets but it was impossible to right the boat. I went to have a look at the keel head and was dumbfounded. The keel was swinging freely in its box. I couldn’t believe my eyes; the keel head had completely shattered and there were little pieces of carbon all over the place. I managed to furl in the large gennaker and right the boat under mainsail alone. I alerted race management and my team, then I tried to progressively get the boat moving northwards again with all the ballast tanks filled, without shaking the keel.'

Deprived of any lateral support from then on, the keel was acting like a pendulum between the boat’s hull. Accentuated by the sea state, if this motion caused the boat to heel beyond 45°, it could lead to considerable structural damage to the boat’s hull, possibly resulting in water ingress. 'The keel is free to swing. If the angle exceeds 45° it may break the hull bottom and potentially sink the boat.'

Protected from the strong gale about to hit the Baie du Morbihan in the Kerguelen Islands, the skipper and his boat are out of trouble. This last night aboard the ‘injured’ monohull proved particularly long for the skipper. This contrasted with the previous night where, on the look-out for ice indicated not far from the monohull, the skipper only took his eyes off the radar for short periods. This time though it was the keel box which was his primary focus.

To help him through this difficult ordeal, numerous messages of support were forwarded to the boat and this encouragement boosted the skipper’s rather wobbly spirits even more than a good cup of coffee. 'I’ve kind of done my grieving for the race though I’m more than sad about it all. I’ve received a vast number of messages of support in my inbox and I had a very heart-warming call from my sponsor, which really cheered me up. That was very important to me and I’d like to thank everyone for that. It was a massive help. I am all too aware that I’m here thanks to the support of the people that have got me this far, my sponsor, my friends, my partners as well as all those who are following us.'

Over the coming days, in coordination with the boat’s architect and the keel designer, and thanks to the invaluable assistance from the people on site, Dominique will try to install a system to immobilise the keel. At 49°S, right in the middle of the Indian Ocean, we can imagine that the means available to the skipper will be limited. 'We’re going to try to find a temporary means of immobilising the keel. I don’t really know what we’re going to have to invent yet. My goal is that I’ll be able to head off again in as safe a condition as possible.'

The skipper is then likely to have to wait for a favourable weather window to stand a chance of making southern Australia and ultimately envisage getting the boat back to La Rochelle. For the time being the team have come to no conclusions about why the damage occurred and at this stage no repairs can be envisaged without a through examination and the support of the professionals concerned.

Tying up at 1330 UT, the skipper was given a fantastic welcome by the people present on the islands and lost no time in taking a hot shower. With a 5 hour time difference, night was beginning to fall in the Kerguelen Islands. The skipper was planning to enjoy the comfort of a warm bed in order to be in good shape for tomorrow, where a solid day’s work awaits him.