Kito de Pavant, whose IMOCA Bastide Otio suffered a major water ingress, was rescued on 7th December 2016 by the vessel Marion Dufresne, which was sailing around 100 miles from the sailor. Repatriated on board the vessel in charge of supplying the French Southern and Antarctic Territories, the sailor from the south had to abandon his boat.
It's the first time Kito has ever abandoned a boat and he's very affected by it. He has therefore decided to do his utmost to recover his monohull, which he had let drift to the NE. But with the wind, the boat was heading more towards the East. Kito was still hoping to be able to intercept his IMOCA in the Kerguelen Islands, but the boat's beacons are no longer transmitting...
The skipper was monitoring the progress of his boat thanks to the two iridium beacons, but these have not been emitting for several hours... The boat is therefore either overturned or sunk, but in both cases, the beacons are immersed in the water and therefore can no longer emit. A prospect which leaves the skipper little chance of finding his boat...
"Besides, some very bad news overwhelms me. The 2 iridium beacons that gave the position of Bastide Otio every hour have not been transmitting for more than 12 hours. This means that they are probably under water and that the boat has probably capsized. The last position indicated an average speed of 6 knots to the northeast. The hope of finding and rescuing the boat becomes even more uncertain." explained Kito de Pavant on December 13th on the Made In Midi website.
On 15th December, Kito de Pavant gave news from the Marion Dufresne, and the least we can say is that he has given up all hope of finding his boat, as he explains.
"The Marion Dufresne has been deserted by its occupants, in a hurry to get a closer look at this very special fauna and flora. As for me, I preferred to stay on board because the news from Bastide Otio is not good. However, there was a growing hope of being able to organise an expedition from the island of Kerguelen, thanks to the support of the TAAF (Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises - French Southern and Antarctic Lands) and the few fishing boats present in the area.
However, the two beacons, which enabled us to follow the boat's drift in the north of the archipelago precisely, stopped transmitting more than 36 hours ago. It is therefore likely that the boat ended up losing its keel and capsizing or sinking. The beacons are therefore under water and will never again give the position of the boat
At this point, I have no hope of finding the boat... The only small consolation is that I may have done well to leave the ship for the Marion Dufresne."
