Vendée Globe hero Jean Le Cam is sailing solo again. The French navy has successfully rescued the shipwrecked Kevin Escoffier from the "Yes We Cam!" in the Indian Ocean. The mission was completed at 3.10 a.m. German time around 360 nautical miles north of the Crozet Islands in the Indian Ocean. A rib of around five metres in length from the French frigate "Nivôse" made the transfer from the Imoca yacht to the ship possible. In an initial message from "Nivôse" skipper Frédéric Barbe to the race organisers, he said: "Kevin is in great shape and will enjoy a hot shower. We are on our way to La Réunion. It's a beautiful day to start with." Boris Herrmann was also pleased with Escoffier and said: "The navy, Jean and Kevin have done a great job."
How the Nationale Marine rescued the shipwrecked Kevin Escoffier from Jean Le Cam's "Yes We Cam!" and brought him to the frigate "Nivôse"
The Hamburg skipper of the "Seaexplorer - Yacht-Club de Monaco" made up ground overnight. The 39-year-old moved up to seventh place. In doing so, he reduced the gap to leader Charlie Dalin to around 460 nautical miles. Jean Le Cam maintained his sixth place despite the unusual rendezvous in the early hours of the morning. The Paralympics winner and "Groupe Apicil" skipper Damien Seguin with his twelve-year-old modified Finot/Conq boat is still impressively placed in the top five. The 41-year-old from Nantes, who was born without fingers on his left hand, continues to sail a spirited and clever race in his Vendée Globe premiere in fourth place in the intermediate classification.
In his red and white knitted jumper, Boris Herrman looked like Father Christmas himself. On Sunday, the Hamburg native sent greetings from the Indian Ocean
Louis Burton, who had advanced to second place last week on a southerly course close to the ice edge, had to let Thomas Ruyant on "LinkedOut" pass him again in the last 24 hours. Burton had serious problems with his autopilot. The Frenchman reported: "I'm pretty burnt out. And I admit that I came very close to giving up." Burton initially did not want to reveal any further details about the damage itself. The leading group of the fleet was due to pass Kerguelen on Monday. Burton reported:
"I couldn't furl my headsail. So I had to go out last night and attach a line to the end of the bowsprit. That wasn't exactly great. But I managed it and now I can furl the small headsail I set in preparation for the wind we're expecting. Strategically, you try to stay ahead of the front. We are only at the beginning. I've lost a bit of ground, so I'm not quite sure where I stand. But the idea is to sail as fast and as long as possible on this starboard bow course. Either I manage to stay ahead of the front, which will be very strong. That would be good. Or it will pass over us in about two days. Then we would jibe to port and continue on the general course. They haven't seen the weather data from midnight yet, but the one from 6pm showed changes that didn't look great in the Kerguelen area. It would be pretty impressive if we can do all that on a bow off the front, but it will take a lot of manoeuvring. What I really need to do is clear the boat before I go to sleep. Disorganisation on board simply leads to more problems and accidents. Then I'll sail as fast as I can. I tell myself that the others also have problems that they have to deal with. You just have to get through it."
While the skippers in the leading group were preparing for the threatening front that could test them on Tuesday, the midfield chasers Alan Roura ("La Fabrique", 14th), Stephane Le Diraison ("Time for Oceans", 15th) and Armel Tripon ("L'Occitane en Provence", 16th) were struggling to keep up.), Armel Tripon ("L'Occitane en Provence", 16th) and Arnaud Boissières ("La Mie Câline - Artisans Artipôle", 17th) are roughly on the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope and around 1900 nautical miles behind the leader Charlie Dalin through a light wind zone with one or two knots of wind. That's how different the worlds can be in the Vendée Globe, where there are no less than 3800 nautical miles between leader Dalin and newcomer Jérémie Beyou on "Charal".
After the official retirement of Sam Davies ("Initiatives-Cœur"), the French-German Isabelle Joschke remained the best skipper in the field of the remaining 28 boats in the race in tenth place. The 43-year-old "MACSF" skipper was a good 600 nautical miles behind Charlie Dalin on Sunday morning.
