In a few hours, the Route du Rhum experienced several major scares on Saturday evening. One boat capsized and three others were dismasted, but their skippers are unharmed and safe as much of the fleet sailed through a violent front, organizers said.
Thibaut Vauchel-Camus (Solidaires En Peloton-Arsep), who took the lead on Friday evening in the Ocean Fifty category, capsized between Portugal and the Azores. He had just passed the second cold front which is shaking the fleet in the Atlantic, with gusts of 35 to 40 knots (64 to 74 km/h) and disorderly seas. He is not injured and is sheltered in the central hull of his trimaran.
Fate is against Burton
A little earlier, Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée), who was among the Imocas launched in pursuit of their leader Charlie Dalin (Apivia), dismasted around 5 p.m. ” I don’t understand. I was at 2 reefs (low mainsail), J3 (small headsail), there is maybe a two-meter hollow, it was prudent,” he commented, visibly in shock. and very disappointed, in a video released by his team. “I’m disgusted, it’s unbelievable how hard it is.” Third in the Vendée Globe in 2020/2021, he had to retire due to a leak during the last edition of the Route du Rhum and he had dismasted last year on the first evening of the Transat Jacques-Vabre .
Two other skippers, entered in Class40, have also dismasted: Amélie Grassi (La Boulangère Bio) and Aurélien Ducroz (Crosscall), who were respectively in 10th and 11th place in the provisional classification at the end of the afternoon.
During the afternoon sessions, several skippers testified to the difficult conditions for the boats engaged in the cold front. “At the moment, there’s 30 knots of wind gusting to 35 (…), the sea is really disgusting, it’s hard to find the right regulation. It’s a mess and not very funny, ”said Jérémie Beyou (Charal), currently 2nd in the Imoca, at 6:30 p.m.
“The most difficult moment of the race”
For Justine Mettraux (Teamwork.net), also in the peloton of pursuers in Imoca, “it was war! It was the most difficult moment of the race, we knew that”. “I think we all had mast alarms all over the place because it was hitting a lot. I tried to make sure that it hits to a minimum but sometimes (…) the boat gets carried away, you take off on a wave and you don’t really know how you’re going to get out of it! For me it’s over but I’ll have to do a good check tomorrow morning because it’s certain that the boat has taken a lot”.
Far ahead, the battle continued – at an average speed of more than 30 knots during the evening – between Charles Caudrelier (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild) and François Gabart (SVR Lazartigue). If Gabart passed in the morning, Caudrelier regained the lead when passing the Azores. But his lead remained limited and Thomas Coville (Sodébo) remained in contact.