And again a Vendée sailor has to leave his course after colliding with a "UFO" and bring his demolished boat to a repair port. The Frenchman Thomas Ruyant and his yacht "Le Souffle du Nord pour Le Projet Imagine" are heading for New Zealand. The skipper and his boat collided with an "Unidentified floating object" ("UFO") on Sunday afternoon. In very rough seas and winds of 40 knots, Ruyant noticed water ingress in the forecastle shortly after the collision, where he was stowing his sails.
The yellow boat is that of the unfortunate Thomas Ruyant, who deviated from the fastest route after the collision and set course for New Zealand
Well placed eighth in the race, Ruyant immediately informed the regatta management and prepared his safety equipment. The starboard rudder and the structure in the deck area were also damaged in the incident. The regatta managers have contacted the New Zealand Sea Rescue and asked for help in the event that Ruyant's situation worsens.
"Le Souffle du Nord" is still in full use here. Now Ruyant has to carefully steer his damaged boat to New Zealand
Collision and the impending task: a heavy blow for Thomas Ruyant, who finished eighth with "Le Souffle du Nord pour Le Projet Imagine"
The Frenchman has not yet asked for outside help. After the Cape Leeuwin Passage, he wants to try to reach New Zealand on his own. Laurent Bourggués, Ruyant Technical Project Director, said: "Thomas is working hard to reach New Zealand."
Before that, the Frenchman Stéphane Le Diraison had already lost his mast and had to give up on Saturday evening. After Tanguy de Lamotte, whose masthead had broken off, and the Japanese soloist Koji Shiraishi, who had lost the upper third of his rig, Le Diraison is the third skipper in the current race to be hit by this misfortune. He calls at the Australian port of Melbourne.
At the head of the field on the Cape Horn course, Armel Le Cléac'h had gained a lead of 439 nautical miles over "Hugo Boss" helmsman Alex Thomson on the 4th of Advent. With 826 nautical miles, the Briton has a good lead over the Frenchman Paul Meilhat on "SMA". He, in turn, continues a bug-to-bug duel with Jérémie Beyou on "Maitre Coq". The two compatriots were only five nautical miles apart after 42 days at sea!
The deck of Stéphane Le Diraison's "Compagnie du Lit - Boulogne Billancourt" looked like a small battlefield after the mast broke
