At 13:46 he sent a message to his race team that he had a water ingress on board, but apparently did not report it via satellite phone. The Frenchman was sailing in third place in a strong south-westerly wind on port tack, about 550 nautical miles from Cape Town. It is not known exactly how the water ingress occurred.
The MRCC Cape Town then developed a rescue plan with the "PRB" team and the race organisers. Jean Le Cam, who was only 20 nautical miles away, immediately changed course to sail to the scene of the accident. He is expected to arrive at the last known position at around 4pm.
UPDATE: 17:45
Jean le Cam arrived at the scene of the accident at 5 p.m. and spotted Escoffier in the life raft. He started the machine and is now trying to rescue him.
Update: 19:50
Boris Herrmann and Yannick Bestaven with their yachts "Seaexplorer" and "Maître Coq" have been asked by the race organisers to help with the rescue of Kevin Escoffier and have set course for the position of Jean Le Cam.
Andreas Fritsch
Editor Travel
