Route du Rhum: Race leader comes to violent halt with broken bow
by Sabina Mollart Rogerson 4 Nov 2018 23:27 PST
5 November 2018
Seb Josse (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild) is one of the favourites in the six-strong ULTIME class © Eloi Stichelbaut
Shortly after 4:30 GMT, Sébastien Josse alerted his team manager to major damage aboard the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild.
After an outstanding start to the race, Josse was leading the Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe fleet when the solo sailor came to a violent halt.
As soon as he got on deck, Josse observed that he’d lost part of the bow of his starboard float.
His shore team says it is night time in the area and given the sea state – nearly 4.5 metres of swell – and wind - 30 knots of northerly - it’s difficult to gauge the extent of the damage for now.
Sébastien Josse is reported to be safe and sound and together with his shore team and his routing cell he’s currently looking for a solution to make terra firma as quickly as possible.
The top priority is to get the sailor to shelter as a new low pressure system will sweep across the Bay of Biscay over the coming hours.
More information to follow.
Sebastien Josse
43 Years old
16 Transatlantic Races
3 Vendée Globe races, 1 Volvo Ocean Race, 1 Jules Verne Trophy, 5 Solitaire du Figaro's
Maxi Edmond de Rothschild
The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild - christened Gitana 17 becomes the latest of the famous and long line of Gitana boats - a 32 metre long by 23 metre wide trimaran it was designed by the architect Guillaume Verdier and his team, in collaboration with the Gitana design office. Precursor, this giant of seas with decidedly planing, aggressive and innovative hulls, far removed from those known on current oceanic multihulls, opens the era of a new generation machines whose aim is to fly around the world.