After an intensive search, a body was recovered on Friday evening, which is believed to be that of the 75-year-old sailor whose catamaran capsized off the French Glénan Islands. He was found upside down about 20 kilometres southwest of the Glénan Islands on Thursday morning.
The body was found by a trawler three nautical miles from the catamaran involved in the accident and was subsequently recovered by the French sea rescue organisation SNSM (Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer), which also had a criminal investigator on board. The body could not be officially identified at first, but the family of the victim had already been informed of the discovery. It is now clear that it is the Frenchman Jean-Pierre Guillosson and his catamaran "Abana 3", according to French media reports.
Further maritime emergencies involving catamarans:
In distress at sea: how capsize-proof are catamarans?
He set off alone from his small home port of Binic in Brittany at the beginning of October on a transatlantic crossing. The passionate model maker is said to have already undertaken a similar voyage in 2020. In addition, he has always behaved responsibly at sea, according to people close to him. The catamaran was also designed and well-equipped for such voyages.
Nevertheless, he had to abort the crossing from La Coruña in Spain, which he had already reached more than a fortnight ago, probably due to technical problems, among other things. The weather conditions also played a role, but the return journey to Brittany was not easy either and the weather window was very narrow. Nothing is yet known about the exact circumstances of the accident.
However, due to their greater initial stability, multihulls generally heel less than single-hulled yachts and instead capsize suddenly. Due to additional safety precautions in the design of new catamarans, such accidents also occur rather rarely. But how likely is it to happen and why? And what does the crew need to bear in mind in order to reach the harbour safely even in a storm?
