Update at 18:37hrs Wednesday: Sébastien Simon slowed the boat and has stabilised the water ingress situation.
This Wednesday afternoon he making between eight and 12kts on port gybe racing towards the back of a low pressure system.
Simon is in fifth place at the 17:00 hrs report, sailing at 8.78 kts, 499 nm behind the leader Charlie Dalin on APIVIA.
At 08:20hrs UTC Wednesday morning, ARKEA PAPREC hit an unidentified floating object, which caused serious damage to the starboard foil.
The foil entry point and housing where the foil is linked to the boat, are no longer attached to the boat itself.
He has heeled the boat over to limit the ingress of water. It is not yet known how much water is entering the boat.
The skipper, Sébastien Simon, was not injured and is coping with the situation with his shore team.
While sailing in fourth place in the Vendée Globe 436 miles from the race leader, ARKEA PAPREC collided with an unidentified floating object.
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 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 was sailing on the port tack at 9 knots in the 14:00hrs rankings in a 20-knot Westerly wind and heavy seas with 3-4m high waves.
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