Late on Thursday evening, the Spaniards were still leading the French team Groupama by around a nautical mile. The starboard rudder on their boat had broken once before in a gybe, but the damage was repaired with a replacement rudder - and it looked like a comeback was on the cards.
After another gybe, however, the spare rudder also broke. Watch leader Pepe Ribes describes what happened: "We were again side by side with Groupama and jibed in 40 to 45 knots of wind. After jibing, we sailed with the gennaker, and it was almost impossible to hold. We changed sails and a huge wave hit us. We jibed and the starboard rudder broke again. The whole night we could only sail with the genoa 4 and no mainsail, and we're just trying to get to Lorient safely."
Most recently, the Spaniards, who were hoping to win the overall title, were already 100 nautical miles behind the leading Groupama. "We saw all our hopes of winning this race swim away," says skipper Iker Martinez. "Two years of work have vanished into thin air in minutes."
At the position report at 8.00 UTC Telefonica still had 172 nautical miles to Lorient, Groupama only 73. However, Team Sanya was approaching from behind at 20 knots, twice as fast as Telefonica and only had 220 nautical miles to go, so will probably still overtake the Spaniards. A last place on this leg and a victory for Groupama would give the French team a 33-point lead. With only three remaining chances to score points, two in-port races and the final leg, it would be nothing short of a miracle if Telefonica could fight their way back to the top.
Almost incidentally, Camper sailed a new 24-hour record of 566 nautical miles.
Lars Bolle
Chief Editor Digital
