Eric Bellion encountered rough conditions off Cape Finisterre, with winds in excess of 40 knots and seas of 6 to 8 meters. He even reached 73 knots, which gave him a few scares.
" At the moment, I've got 40-45 knots of wind. But it's much better than it was a while ago. In the last few hours, I've had up to 73 knots, so 45 knots is great. It's pushing on, in the right direction, because I've passed on the right side of the low-pressure system. The boat is doing its job. When I had squalls at 70 knots, she went down a good ten times. The pilot couldn't handle the wind. But it's fine now. I've had a few scares, including two abrupt starts, one of which took out one of the runners. I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and the rest will be upwind sailing. Which means a lot of tacking. I hope to arrive on Monday
And after the storm, Eric's IMOCA, Comme Un Seul Homme, suffered mainsail damage. On Saturday, February 12, Eric was reefing when the upper part of the mainsail, the head, came off the track. He was less than 500 miles from Les Sables-d'Olonne, off the coast of Spain, in 30-40 knots of wind.
To re-engage her, Eric Bellion has to lower her completely. He will no longer be able to sail with the mainsail up, but with a reduced sail under 3 reefs. But the difficult conditions will make the maneuver complicated.
This accident does not change the plans for the arrival of the skipper of Comme Un Seul Homme, who should reach Les Sables d'Olonne this Monday afternoon, February 13, or even Tuesday, depending on weather conditions.
"J' was making a weird noise up there in the mainsail. The wind was coming up, so I decided to take in a third reef, as it was gusting to 40 knots. The headstay flapped around quite a bit during the lowering and I saw that it was no longer held to the mast. I lowered everything and saw the damage. These last few miles, it's impossible. I'm not going to let it get me down. I've got between 30 and 40 knots. I've got to fix it quickly."
