Prince de Bretagne capsizes in the Transat Jacques Vabre
On October 27, Lionel Lemonchois and Roland Jourdain capsized aboard the trimaran Prince de Bretagne, off the coast of La Coruña. The boat was sailing close-hauled in a 20 to 25 knot south-southwest wind gusting to 30 knots. Even though the two men had not initially requested assistance, the bad weather conditions forced them to activate their distress beacon.
They were able to be airlifted and taken to safety in the port of Corunna. The rescue operation of the red and white trimaran was also a real success. The boat reached its home port of Lorient on November 5th.
See the capsizing of Prince de Bretagne
Hugo Boss in the Transat Jacques Vabre
On October 28th, Alex Thomson and Guillermo Altadill encountered some technical problems and had to make repairs at sea. But after several hours at sea, the two sailors decided to return to land, as they were unable to carry out the necessary repairs to cross the Atlantic.
The bad weather conditions forced the duo to return to Vigo in Spain. But on October 31, Alex Thomson and Guillermo Altadill had to activate their distress beacon, while they were 82 miles off the Spanish coast, so that a helicopter rescue operation could be set up.
Hugo Boss suffered structural damage, preventing the two sailors from finishing the race. The repairs carried out to reach Corunna were not enough, as the weather conditions deteriorated further and the boat started to take on water and drift.
The skippers were recovered without damage, as was the boat, which arrived in England last November.
The rescue of Paul Meilhat
While in second place in the Transat St Barth Port-La-Forêt, Paul Meilhat (SMA) was seriously injured during a maneuver on December 14. He had to wait more than 20 hours, due to bad weather conditions, before he could be airlifted and taken to the hospital.
See the story of the rescue of Paul Meilhat
Franck Cammas' accident
While training for the America's Cup (which will take place in 2017) Franck Cammas, the skipper of Groupama Team France, seriously injured his right leg this Monday, November 30. He was quickly taken to hospital and operated on for an open fracture in his right foot. Today the sailor is recovering from his operation and will begin rehabilitation in January.
