Leaders of the IMOCA fleet in the Transat Jacques Vabre double handed race from Le Havre MACIF, sailed by Vendée Globe winners François Gabart and Michel Desjoyeaux, were making a technical pit stop in Peniche, 87 kms NW of Lisbon, Portugal this afternoon after damage to their starboard rudder was discovered last night.
credit : Macif
When they were off Cape Finisterre yesterday evening, Gabart and Desjoyeaux realised that their starboard rudder had been damaged. Diverting to Peniche since 1400hrs UTC this afternoon, the two skippers on MACIF have been carrying out a pit stop in the port there. They are replacing the blade on the damaged rudder. A technical team is on the spot in Portugal to assist them.
The class leaders, who had built margin of up to 50 miles by Cape Finisterre after a robust passage across the Bay of Biscay were racing against time to get back on to the race course. Conditions meantime remained very favourable for the IMOCA Open 60 class, racing downwind in the Portuguese trade winds, so adding pressure to the French duo who many observers, pre-start, considered favourites to win the ten boat class, racing the boat on which Gabart won the Vendée Globe solo non stop around the world race in February. Before they stopped MACIF had seen their enforced separation from the fleet to the SE reduce their lead to just 13 miles on this afternoon’s 1300hrs UTC position report.
After leaving from Roscoff –where they had been required to sit out a Biscay gale _ the full 26 boat Class 40 were back in the race by this afternoon. The order among the top boats remains very much as it was when they departed from the Breton safe haven this morning. Sébastien Rogues and Fabien Delahaye on GDF SUEZ lead by just over 7 miles this afternoon, ahead of the Spanish duo Alex Pella and Pablo Santurde on the Spanish designed and built Tales Santander 2014, in turn just less than four miles ahead of Germany’s Jorg Riechers and Pierre Brasseur on Mare. After sitting out the gale Class 40 are expecting to be rewarded with a relatively straightforward passage in W’ly winds of around 12-18kts across the Bay of Biscay with the leaders anticipated to pass Cape Finisterre late on Monday night or very early Tuesday morning.
The three Class 40s which have British skippers or co-skippers were together in 11th, 12th and 13th this afternoon, less than two miles separating Brian Thompson and Mike Gascoyne’s Caterham Challenge in 11th from Ned Collier-Wakefield and Sam Goodchild on Concise 8 with Miranda Merron and Halvard Mabire on Campagne de France in between the two.
Arriving in La Coruna at around 0900hrs local time this morning, Maitre Jacques skippers Loic Fequet and Loic Escoffier announced their abandonment officially. Having lost the front off their starboard float of their 2005 launched Multi 50, damaged back to the forward bulkhead of the float, they had no alternative but to withdraw. At the front of the very hotly contested Multi 50 fleet Yves Le Blevec and Kito de Pavant were back in front this afternoon on Actual, 8 miles ahead of Arkema Region Aquitaine) and a further mile ahead of FenetreA Cardinal (Leroux-Eliès) as they raced downwind in 12-14kts of Portuguese trade winds, some 100 miles to the NW of Lisbon.
Edmond de Rothschild co-skippers Sébastien Josse and Charles Caudrelier seem to be reaping a dividend for their choice to head more to the south than their rivals on Oman Air-Musandam, Sidney Gavignet and Damian Foxall, as they pass to the south of the high pressure system enjoying good, fast downwind conditions making 22-26kts. The class leaders had knocked in a useful 505 miles 24hours run.
From Transat Jacques Vabre
