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JakeFarley wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 28, 2020 11:09 pm

...
Something like the sound of sirens sweetly singing....

YUMMmmm ; what a Great way, to die !!

Bille

It is hard to even listen to it for almost 2 minutes:

Gitana is out, hit something and returning to France in hopes of trying again in December. While it was fun watching them match race down to the equator, it might make for an even better story if Sodebo can break IDEC's 41 day record and then Gitana can go for that new record a few weeks later. Impressive stuff these French teams can muster the financial backing for. Makes the US seem inconsequential in ocean racing circles.

Vende Globe race leader Charlie Dalin spoke on the French Live progamme today, here are some of the highlights of what had to say, "The closed in cockpit was designed specially for sailing in the Southern Ocean, where it is colder and conditions more hostile. Being sheltered from the spray and the wind contributes to my performance as I can trim the sails with less clothing on more frequently and more quickly than if I had to put on my foulies all the time. We even decided to place the winches as close as possible to the opening so that I can ease a sail quickly from inside.”

“Thanks to the work done on sleep management with the team with the help of Dr. François Duforez early in the season, I have found the perfect rhythm for naps and I can really feel the benefit of that now.”

“Last night was complicated with tricky, cross seas, which prevented me from accelerating. However, since this morning, I have been in a nice current which is helping me advance. This afternoon I’m expecting a big storm. I’m going to get shaken around for 24 hours with more than 40 knots of wind and 6m high waves. I understand now why they call this the Cape of Storms, as that is exactly what lies ahead. A lot of sailors have told me this is the trickiest stretch in the Vendée Globe and looking at the two storms ahead, I think their forecasts were right. In the coming days, it is more a matter of being a good sailor than a racer. You have to get rested and ensure the boat is not damaged in the fronts.”

“I have beaten my record for my time at sea. What I enjoy when ocean racing is being single-handed. I love ocean racing and being alone on my IMOCA. I admit I haven’t prepared myself mentally for going beyond these twenty days of sailing. The Vendée is the Holy Grail of single-handed sailing and I will be able to tell you more objectively about how I have managed these months at sea when I finish in Les Sables d’Olonne.”

Hope they can find him quickly in these rough conditions. The tracking map shows the boats searching.

2200hrs UTC NEWS UPDATE
Race Direction of the Vendée Globe requested the assistance of three competing skippers, Germany’s Boris Herrmann (Seaexplorer-Yacht Club de Monaco), Yannick Bestaven (Maître CoQ IV) and Sébastien Simon (ARKEA PAPREC) to help Jean Le Cam (Yes We Cam!) in the mission to retrieve solo skipper Kevin Escoffier from his life raft after the 40 year old from Saint Malo had to abandon his IMOCA 60 PRB this Monday afternoon after activating his distress beacon.

Escoffier was racing in third place on the 22nd day of the solo non stop around the world race, at some 840 nautical miles SW of Cape Town, when his PRB got into difficulties and he was forced to take to his liferaft.

He alerted his technical team at 1346hrs UTC this afternoon, telling them he had significant amounts of water coming into the boat and immediately triggered his yacht's distress beacon. PRB was positioned at 40deg55S 9deg16E at the time the distress beacon was activated.

Race Direction of the Vendée Globe alerted MRCC Cape Town and CROSS Griz Nez who have been collaborating in a rescue operation. The skipper closest to Escoffier’s position, Jean Le Cam, who is competing on his fifth Vendée Globe, immediately responded to the request to divert to Escoffier’s position.

Guided by Race Direction Le Cam arrived on zone around 1615hrs UTC and quickly established visual and voice contact with Escoffier who was in his liferaft but he was unable to retrieve him in the big, 5m, seas and 20-25 knot winds.

As he was manoeuvring to prepare to get closer to the liferaft Le Cam lost sight of the liferaft and could not establish radio contact nor to pick up the signal from the AIS the range of which was reduced by the heavy seas.

He lost sight of Escoffier in the dying light but has continued to try and locate him, Le Cam is communicating regularly with Race Direction and the rescue authorities. The three other skippers are now in, or are approaching the search area. The positioning of Kevin Escoffier's personal beacon (AIS MOB Man Over Board) emits HF radiowaves and will only be detected in the local zone.

The four skippers will follow a protocol established by Race Direction in coordination with Jean Le Cam. They will approach with three reefs in the mainsail and the engine idling. A grid search area for the zone has been established and will be carried out by the four IMOCAs who are set to provide assistance.

The PRB shore crew said that besides his AIS Mob, Kevin Escoffier also means to signal his presence in the liferaft. Daybreak tomorrow morning is around 0340hrs UTC in this zone and the search will be ongoing.

This press release has been drawn up jointly with the Vendée Globe and Team PRB.

Jean Le Cam found him. good job!

edt wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 01, 2020 6:53 am

Jean Le Cam found him. good job!

Yes, wonderful news and interesting history when he was able to repay the rescue he got from that boat -

On January 6, 2009, during the 2008-2009 Vendée Globe, Vincent Riou, the then the skipper of PRB, rescued Jean Le Cam from his upturned IMOCA 60 which capsized at Cape Horn.

This time 61 year old five times Vendée Globe racer Le Cam has reversed the roles delivering Escoffier, the 40 year old skipper from Saint Malo, from a potentially lethal situation.

... called his technical team with the terse message "I need assistance. I am sinking. This is not a joke."

...Escoffier described the moment the boat literally folded from the bow, “You see the images of shipwrecks? It was like that, but worse. In four seconds the boat nosedived, the bow folded at 90°. I put my head down in the cockpit, a wave was coming. I had time to send one text before the wave fried the electronics. It was completely crazy. It folded the boat in two. I’ve seen a lot before but this one…”

More at: https://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/20 ... ienne_-_EN

An amazing story. Escoffier was in his life raft for hours as Jean Le Cam lost sight of him in the night. Eventually Escoffier was able to climb up the rudder structure at the rear of the recsue boat. Not easy in 3.5m seas. I'm not sure how they would have done it if he was unable to climb..
I read that all four rescue boats involved will he credited by the race committee with the hours they spent on this.
Now I wonder what they will do with two onboard Jean's boat. He probably doesn't have enough food for both of them..

At 0820hrs UTC this morning, ARKEA PAPREC hit an unidentified floating object. The collision caused serious damage to the starboard foil. The skipper is coping with the situation with his shore team. Skipper Sébastien simon was not injured.

While sailing in fourth place in the Vendée Globe 436 miles from the race leader, ARKEA PAPREC collided with an unidentified floating object. The incident damaged the starboard foil. The skipper quickly carried out an appraisal of the situation and shared the information with his shore team and the Race Directors to keep them informed about the situation. The starboard foil has been damaged. The lower wedge at the entry point (where the foil rests and is linked to the boat) and the foil housing (where the foil goes inside the boat) are no longer attached to the boat itself. Sébastien is doing his utmost to deal with the situation, particularly given the heavy seas and strong winds expected tonight. He has heeled the boat over to limit the ingress of water. It is not yet known how much water is entering the boat.

He was sailing on the port tack at 17.6 knots in the 0800hrs rankings in a 20-knot Westerly wind and heavy seas with 3-4m high waves.



Since hitting an object and damaging his starboard foil and the casing Sébastien Simon has put his race on hold. He has been under a deep reefed mainsail and the storm jib. His safety and that of the boat is now the most important thing.

Given the tough sailing conditions forecast (more than 30-35 knots of wind with five metre waves), Simon, in agreement with his team, has decided to head north to get away from the worst of the winda nd the sea. Tonight he is looking only to secure the boat as much as possible and reduce any stress on the damged starboard foil. The objective is to limite ARKEA PAPREC's speed during the passage of the front this evening and to escape the main depression during tonight. Tomorrow, in an area which should be calmer for the IMOCA 60-footer the 30 year old from Les Sables d'Olonne will be able to study the repair possibilities more calmly and hopefully execute the repair plans as discussed with his team

More information to follow.