The Vendée rookie, who has sailed such an excellent race so far, is fighting for his boat. "The hull is broken on the port side at the height of the foredeck, even below the waterline. The deck is cracked, the starboard side is also delaminated," he reported from on board, backing this up with shocking photos and a video showing how water gets into the boat. The cracks and holes are enormous, the ring sheet is completely detached from the hull. "There is a risk that the entire bow section will simply break off," says Ruyant. At the moment, only the longitudinal reinforcements and stringers are practically holding the hull together at the front.
He couldn't say much about the course of the collision that led to the damage, only that it was a huge impact. "I was travelling at 17 to 18 knots when it happened. The boat came to a complete stop from the impact. Judging by the damage to the bow, it could have been a container. The whole bow section folded up and literally exploded. Luckily I was asleep in my beanbag with my head in it when it happened and I hit the forward sheet. That cushioned everything. Afterwards I found equipment that had flown ten metres from the companionway sheet to the forward bulkhead. But luckily the water ingress is in front of the watertight bulkhead."
Now an anxious race against time begins for the 35-year-old. It is just under 260 nautical miles to the shelter of the New Zealand coast in Bluff, but a storm is already approaching tomorrow morning, which is expected to bring higher seas. Ruyant is currently motoring at a speed of six to seven knots to avoid putting too much strain on the hull.
The safety equipment is ready to hand in case the hull breaks and he has to go to the life raft. Since this morning, his "Souflle du Nord" has also been approaching the zone where a helicopter mission would be possible in order to rescue the likeable young sailor if necessary. At the moment, however, he is fully focussed on saving his badly damaged ship, Kito de Pavant's ex-"Groupe Bel". The water ingress can obviously still be controlled with the boat's pumps.
Mast break on "Compagnie du Lit
Almost at the same time as Ruyant's accident, the mast on Stéphane le Diraison's "Compagnie du Lit" broke in 40 knots of wind and very rough seas. "The boat was surfing down a wave at 28 knots when I heard quite a noise. I ran on deck, thinking that one of the deck spreaders had been damaged, but then there was no rigging at all! Normally a mast breaks at the level of the first or second spreader, but mine was sheared off right above the deck. It was lying there in pieces, the sails were hanging over the side in the sea and the whole ship was covered in pieces of carbon fibre. The spreaders were digging into the deck. I tried to save the gennaker, but the seas were huge and broke up, getting into the cockpit."
A brief examination of the cause points to a broken eye on the backstay fitting. Very annoying, according to the Frenchman, as it had only been replaced shortly before the race. Diraison continues: "It took me twelve hours to clear the deck to some extent. I was able to set a seven-metre emergency rig, which is fantastic. It always sounds so easy when people talk about how they have notrigs, but on a 60-footer alone in a storm it's not easy. I don't think it's going to come down. I set my storm sails and tried to get north as quickly as possible, out of the ice zone I was drifting in. I was completely dismayed, really in shock. You really have to mobilise your last reserves to cope with it."
Now the Frenchman is bobbing northwards at a speed of around three to four knots towards Australia, which is still a good 1000 nautical miles away.
Andreas Fritsch
Editor Travel
