12th Route du Rhum: One capsize, three mast breaks and Herrmann struggles
Tatjana Pokorny
· 13.11.2022
Louis Burton's misfortune marked the beginning of the series of accidents in the 12th Route du Rhum at the weekend: the Vendée Globe third lost his mast on day three at sea off the coast of Portugal on a westerly course. After Damien Seguin, the 37-year-old "Bureau Vallé" skipper Burton was the second Imoca skipper whose rig failed.
Louis Burton: "I don't understand it!"
Burton had already suffered a mast break on the first day of the Transit Jacques Vabre last year with the boat he bought from Armel Tripon after the 2020/2021 Vendée Globe. Now, as one of the top players, he has to give up another Transat. "I was travelling with two reefs and a small J3, I don't understand it," said Louis Burton in his first brief reaction after the mast break, shedding tears of disappointment.
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Bad news followed in quick succession: in Class 40, 350 nautical miles north-west of Cape Finistère, the masts on the "La Boulangère Bio" of Amélie Grassi from La Rochelle and Aurélien Ducroz on "Crosscall" broke. Amélie Grassi, a lawyer who is active on the board of the Mini class and has put her legal career on hold in favour of her work on the high seas, lost her rig on 12 November at around 7 pm. A little later, 40-year-old Aurélien Ducroz from Chamonix was hit. The former freeride skiing world champion (Crosscall Sailing Team) was in eleventh place when his mast broke. Both sailors were unharmed and headed for harbours.
Trimaran capsized, skipper saves himself in the centre hull
Then came the next shock: at around 8 p.m. on 12 November, the leader of the Ocean Fifty class capsized. Between Portugal and the Azores, "Solidaires en Peloton - Arsep" skipper Thibault Vauchel-Camus was uninjured and was able to save himself in the centre hull of his trimaran. The 43-year-old had only taken the lead in his class the day before. The five-time French F18 champion had just passed the second strong front since the start of the Route du Rhum race when his tri capsized. He is waiting for help.
The Croatian Ivica Kostelic had to make a repair stop. The four-time Olympic medallist and world champion in alpine skiing was unable to cope with a series of technical problems on board his "ACI". The 42-year-old solo sailor was on his way to La Coruña without a functioning autopilot. "Apicil" skipper and Paralympics winner Damien Seguin is expected to arrive in Lorient on Sunday evening after breaking his mast.
Giant duel at the top: "It's a bit like war"
The series of crashes at the start of the weekend overshadowed the sporting action. The high tension continues in all six classes. At the front of the field, the duel between the two Ultim giants "Maxi Edmond de Rothschild" with Charles Caudrelier and "SVR-Lazartigue" with François Gabart continues to rage. On the morning of 13 November, the leader Caudrelier and his chaser Gabart were separated by just over 20 nautical miles - only a "stone's throw" in this class. Both raced into the trade winds at top speeds of 35 knots and more.
Charles Caudrelier announced:"It's a bit of a war out there. The wind is super fickle. You have to be careful. It's not the dream yet. It's still choppy and quite tense. I'm looking forward to getting my oilskins off. The wind is very fickle and it's not really a downwind course yet. At the moment we have 20 knots with strong gusts of 30 knots. Every time I want to go to sleep, there are two more. It's getting down to business! The last few hours have been fast. They've been trying to slow the boat down more than speed it up."
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On the duel with François Gabart, Caudrelier said: "Before the Azores, François had caught up with me in a light wind. He had a good laugh because he was going straight ahead while I couldn't get there! I turned four or five times and at some point I thought to myself: 'Let's go! He chose a slightly less muscular option and in the end it almost came down to the same thing."
The Imoca overview: Dominator Dalin gets away, Beyou and Ruyant lead the hunt for the fox
In the Imocas, front runner Charlie Dalin continues to amaze. At a speed of 21.5 knots on Sunday morning, this year's "Apivia" class dominator has already built up a lead of almost 80 nautical miles over his first chaser, Jérémie Beyou. Just four nautical miles behind Beyou, "LinkedOut" skipper Thomas Ruyant was piling on the pressure. All three skippers fulfil the pre-start forecasts with their current positions in the first third. Behind them, Paul Meilhat and Kevin Escoffier on "Holcomb - PRB" are battling it out for fourth place with his new foiler "Biotherm". After initial technical problems with his still young boat, Meilhat seems to have the "Biotherm" well under control despite a tight budget.
Joschke and Herrmann stay tuned
The best skipper in the Imoco field remains Justine Mettraux on "Teamwork.net" in seventh place. Vendée Globe winner Yannick Bestaven is right behind her with "Maître Coq V". Eleventh on the morning of 13 November was the German-French rider Isabelle Joschke on "Macsf". Boris Herrmann battled the trade winds with his new "Malizia - Seaexplorer" in 13th place, travelling at 17 knots on Sunday morning, making him one of the faster Imocas on the course - apart from the speeding Charlie Dalin. In winds of 15 to 19 knots, the Imoca field headed towards the southern passage of the Azores.
Class 40 favourite Yoann Richomme as if unleashed
Yoann Richomme continues to impress in Class 40. The "Paprec Arkéa" favourite, who "served" his four-hour time penalty early in the race as a result of his early start, has been racing through the field like unleashed ever since. Frightening for the competition: four days after the starting signal, the 39-year-old from Marmor Plage has already worked his way up to third place. The qualified yacht designer has made it abundantly clear that he intends to defend his Route du Rhum title from 2018 despite his starting mishap. The Class 40 field is - still - led by Corentin Douguet on "Queguiner - Innoveo" and second-placed Xavier Macaire on "Group SNEF".
