On 6th December 2016, Kito de Pavant, competing in the 2016 Vendée Globe aboard his IMOCA Bastide Otio, suffered serious damage while sailing in the northern part of the Crozet Islands, south of South Africa. Fortunately for the sailor, the Marion Dufresne, a vessel in charge of supplies for the French Southern and Antarctic Territories was sailing 110 miles from Kito de Pavant. The latter arrived on the zone the same day at around 17:30 (French time) at nightfall. He therefore waited alongside the Bastide Otio monohull until better conditions were available to recover the skipper.
The Marion Dufresne and her crew CMA-CGM were able to rescue the sailor on December 7 at 2:00 a.m. (French time). The sailor is now aboard the TAAF supply ship and is accompanying him on his tour of the Crozet, Kerguelen and Amsterdam islands. He will disembark on Reunion Island on 30 December next.
Now Kito de Pavant hopes to be able to save his boat, which he was forced to abandon. The monohull was due to drift north-east, but with the wind it is heading east. The skipper is hoping to be able to recover him at the Kerguelen Islands, even if the boat is heading towards Australia and would not have a good chance of making it there in its entirety.
"I'm on the gangway of the Marion Dufresne, enjoying the show which is quite incredible. We're on our way to the Kerguelen archipelago. There are 40 knots of wind and heavy seas. The Albatrosses are circling around us. It allows me to forget my misfortunes a little.
We are trying to follow the progress of Bastide Otio which is further north and heading east at a slow speed. It advances slowly, but surely towards the north of Kerguelen. We're considering different solutions to try and recover the boat, but we know it's very hypothetical. We're continuing to look for solutions so that the story has a happy ending.
I had done everything I could to make Bastide Otio drift towards the North-East, but with the wind it is going East. The chances of him arriving in Australia in good condition are low. The opportunities to recover it are few and the best solution would perhaps be in the Kerguelen Islands. We have to rely on the means that exist on the spot and they are not numerous. But that leaves a glimmer of hope to recover Bastide Otio, to save him and to put him in a safe place until better days.
Psychologically it's complicated, I hadn't considered such an outcome. I found myself in the worst situation by having to abandon the boat. It was really too dangerous for me and eventually for those who would have had to rescue me, so there was no choice but to leave the boat. We are in very inhospitable places where there is no help. That's the game, you know when you set sail from Les Sables-d'Olonne for the Vendée Globe that these risks exist, I fully assume, but it's true that it's complicated to leave everything behind.
I am fortunate to have partners who support me and assure me that we will continue a great story together next year. The CMA-CGM crew of the Marion Dufresne is taking good care of me. We have to be positive, I'm rebuilding myself little by little.
I've had hundreds of thousands of messages from all over the place. It's heartwarming, they are all more beautiful than each other, it's very touching. There's a real sense of solidarity, it gives me the strength to find solutions," explains Kito de Pavant.
