15th Transat Jacques Vabre: Giant "Sodebo Ultim 3": unable to fly after "UFO" collision

Following the Imoca mast breakages of the past few days, the trimaran "Sodebo Ultim 3" has now been hit. The starboard foil of the green and white giant skippered by Thomas Coville and Thomas Rouxel was damaged overnight in a collision with an unknown object ("UFO") floating in the water. The sailors were unharmed in the crash. They are currently assessing the damage and their options for continuing the 15th Transat Jacques Vabre. The unfortunate news follows the mast breakages of the past few days, which have caused much discussion in the Imoca class: first Louis Burton and Davy Beaudart on "Bureau Vallée" had to retire with an imploded rig. Then the mixed team Justine Mettraux and Simon "Sifi" Fisher on "Alaka'i" were hit on Wednesday when their mast came off the top. Charly Enright, who together with Pascal Bidégorry on "Malamā" drives the second boat of the double team 11th Hour Racing across the Atlantic, reacted sympathetically to the breakage on board "Alaka'i": "I'm so incredibly sorry to hear about the bad news from our team mates. But I'm glad everyone is safe. We've had an eventful day ourselves in many ways, but nothing compares to this. We're currently jibing along the Iberian Peninsula at 20 knots."

The fact that two masts in well-financed projects in the Imoca class have already come from above during the initial Transat phase after the introduction of the OneDesign masts, which recently appeared to be very reliable, is a matter of intense concern for the class and its supporters. The error analyses are running at full speed. "Alaka'i" is in A Coruña, where the technical team from 11th Hour Racing has already arrived. The boat is to be taken to the team base in Port La Forêt as quickly as possible, where the causes of the setback can be better investigated. The "Bureau Vallée" crew had already experienced their misfortune ten hours after the start. A loud noise had signalled the break half an hour earlier. After securing the sails, cables and parts of the mast, the unfortunate crew had sought refuge in the north of the island of Guernsey. Skipper Louis Burton later described the sequence of events as follows: "We were sailing under full mainsail and headsail at a speed of 18 or 19 knots when the mast broke. The first sound was like an explosion. The mast didn't fall over at first, it imploded." Later it did break and fell to the deck.

The remaining fleet continues the race. First and foremost the Ultim giants: The front runners Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier on "Maxi Edmond de Rothschild" had already left Madeira behind them on Thursday and pointed their bows westwards at around 16 knots of speed to jump across the Atlantic. At this point, "SVR - Lazartigue" with François Gabart and Tom Laperche came up strongly from behind and was only 35 nautical miles behind - in the giant division of boats that can reach speeds of 40 knots, that is almost nothing. At the same time, the smaller trimaran fleet of Ocean Fifty yachts was still on course for Madeira, led on the fourth day at sea by Erwan LeRoux and Xavier Macaire on "Koesio" ahead of Sébastien Rogues and Matthieu Souben on "Primonial". All seven Ocean Fifties were less than 100 nautical miles apart at this point. Britain's Sam Goodchild and Aymeric Chapelier on "Leyton" were fighting for a podium place in fourth place, 60 nautical miles behind the leader.

At this early stage of the French transatlantic classic, the leading trio in the Imocas comes as no surprise: Charlie Dalin and Paul Meilhat on "Apivia" are the top favourites to lead the field. As expected, Thomas Ruyant and Morgan Lagravière on "LinkedOut" and Jérémie Beyou with Christopher Pratt on "Charal" remain the most persistent pursuers. However, Samantha Davies and Nicolas Lunven on "Initiatives Cœur" moved ever closer to the rear of the latter. On Thursday morning, Davies and Lunven had closed the gap to "Charal" to ten nautical miles. Romain Attanasio's "Fortinet - Best Western", Boris Herrmann's former "Seaexplorer - Yacht Club de Monaco", trailed the leading Imoca by around 160 nautical miles in seventh position. The Munich-born German-French Isabelle Joschke and co-skipper Fabien Delahaye, 19th in the field of the remaining 20 Imocas, have not yet got going as hoped.

In the Class40, the top 15 were separated by just 50 nautical miles on the morning of 11 November. Nicolas Jossier and Alexis Loison on "La Manche #Evidence Nautique" and Luke Berry with Achille Nebout on "Lamotte Module Création" were battling for the lead. Fact at this early stage of the race: France's ocean sailors exclusively dominate the top three in all four classes. The most promising international contenders on day four at sea were Sam Davies in the Imoca field and Sam Goodchild in the Class40. Click here for the tracker and the intermediate results in all four divisions of the Transat Jacques Vabre (please click!).