Second placed Thomas Ruyant has sustained damage to the port foil of his IMOCA LinkedOut on day 18 of the Vendee Globe race.
He had to stop for a short period to assess and says he will now be unable to use the foil on the port side of his boat for the remainder of the race.
While lying in second place in the South Atlantic, some 70 nautical miles behind leader Charlie Dalin on Apivia, Ruyant last night sustained damage to the port foil of his IMOCA LinkedOut.
Ruyant told his team that it was around 02:00 hrs UTC Wednesday morning, while he was resting inside his boat, that he was woken by a loud noise outside the boat.
He did not, however, feel any shock to the boat.
But on inspecting the boat with his headtorch he immediately noticed major cracks in the “shaft” of his port foil.
Ruyant immediately stopped the boat and sailed downwind to further inspect the damage.
“I was about 120 ° to the wind, I was sailing at about at 20 knots when I heard this loud noise” reported Ruyant this morning.
“I don’t really have an explanation. I have brought the foil in all the way so that it doesn’t drag in the water. In daylight I was able to inspect the foil and its OK at the top and speaking with my team and the architects it seems safe.”
“There is no water coming in and the foil well itself is undamaged. But the foil itself is cracked in a number of places. The structure of the foil is compromised. I am waiting for the designers analysis to see if I should cut it.”
Vendée Globe Leaders – Day 18 – Wed 24 Nov – 11:00 hrs UK
1st FRA Charlie Dalin – APIVIA – 18,986 nm to finish
2nd FRA Thomas Ruyant – LinkedOut – 70 nm
3rd FRA Jean Le Cam – Yes we Cam! – 362 nm
4th FRA Kevin Escoffier – PRB – 441 nm
5th FRA Boris Herrmann – SEAEXPLORER – 465 nm
6th FRA Yannick Bestaven – Maître CoQ IV – 466 nm
7th FRA Sebastien Simon – ARKEA PAPREC – 576 nm
8th GBR Alex Thomson – HUGO BOSS – 643 nm – sailing at 8.3 knots
9th GBR Sam Davies – INITIATIVES-COEUR – 598 nm
10th FRA Louis Burton – BUREAU VALLEE 2 – 687 nm
11th FRA Benjamin Dutreux – OMIA – Water Family – 750 nm
Other GBR:
23rd GBR Pip Hare – Medallia – 1884 nm
26th GBR Miranda Merron – Campagne de France – 2387 nm
Retired: Nicolas Troussel
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