Thomas Ruyant - skipper of IMOCA Le Souffle du Nord for Le Projet Imagine - collided very violently with a UFO this Sunday 18th December 2016. It was no doubt a container that was at fault, as Thomas was sailing close to the coast, spotting freighters in the vicinity. He was lying down at the time of the impact, his head firmly in his footstool. A chance since he took a UFO at 17/18 knots, "a really, really bad shock" and ended up in the masthead bulkhead and found stuff stowed at the stern of the vessel at the forward bulkhead, a 10 m jump forward.
After a few hours in the cape, the skipper, who was sailing in his first Vendée Globe, is now trying to get his boat back to the small port of Bluff in New Zealand, 260 miles away. "I've got the hull opening up, the flotsam and jetsam coming off, all over the place." The skipper, who believes it will take two days to sail to New Zealand, isn't sure if "it will hold."
Not far from the coast, he can count on helicopter rescue and on his living area with watertight doors. It is with great emotion that Thomas Ruyant tells his story, happy to be in good health, but terribly shocked by his violent accident and de facto, his end of the Vendée Globe.
Unfortunately, the skipper is in a very bad position as his boat is threatening to split in two at any moment and he is running out of diesel to cover the entire 200 miles separating him from land. Finally, a big low is coming in from the North and from tomorrow lunchtime the winds could reach 50 knots. " There's a northerly wind which is going to come in quite strong but the boat is no longer able to withstand it. I'm trying to go to the front of the boat every 15 minutes to check that the damage is not getting worse." said Thomas at the Vendée Live at noon today. Currently at 7.7 knots, under sail and motor, Le Souffle du Nord for the Imagine project must not be allowed to drag along..
" The port side plating is cut below the waterline." says Laurent Bourguès, Technical Director of Le Souffle du Nord. " The starboard side shell plating is also beginning to delaminate. The deck structure is gradually deteriorating. The danger is that the forward part of the boat will literally come off the stern. Thomas tried to plug the gaps. In my opinion, the boat is still only holding together thanks to the longitudinal structure. The starboard rudder is still there, but it's not holding much longer. Thomas intervened on it. The idea is to reach the southern tip of New Zealand as quickly as possible for shelter, as the wind will be blowing hard again from tomorrow morning. Thomas hasn't asked for assistance yet, but race management is on the lookout if he asks for evacuation, which is possible."
" I've been going through this like a car accident. The sailboat came to a complete stop. The impact was ultra violent. I was very down yesterday, but I'm very motivated to get my boat back to port. That's my priority explains Thomas.
