Dismasting and water ingress on board
On 20 October 2018, the French skipper Loïc Lepage informed the Race Direction at 1330 UTC of the breakage of his mast in two different locations, while he was some 600 miles southwest of Perth, Western Australia. The conditions encountered at the time were 25 knot winds and 3 metre waves. After getting rid of the rigging, the 62-year-old sailor decided to build a makeshift rig at dawn on Sunday 21 to reach Fremantle without assistance.
Distress beacon activated
But at 1810 UTC, he contacted Race HQ for the second time to report a water leak of about 160 l/h from the keel, but inaccessible because it was hidden by the water tank. Although the pumps were able to contain the water, the external conditions, with winds of 40 knots, made the situation difficult. He then activated his EPIRB beacon at 1830 UTC, passing through the same orange to red code. The Canberra Aeromarine Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC Australia) received the distress call and sent an emergency relay to all the boats around.
Emergency organisation
At 2030 UTC, a Challenger aircraft took off from Perth - with a manual water pump on board - to observe the situation and take pictures of the damage on Laaland. The aircraft arrived on site at 2309 UTC and the crew was able to communicate with Lepage by VHF radio. The latter indicated that he was repairing his engine and that he did not need the pump or any other tool. The aircraft crew reported that the mast did not appear to be attached to the boat and that no other damage was visible on the outside.
JRCC continued to seek other means of rescue, including from nearby merchant ships or sailboats.
Two vessels warned that they could not provide assistance due to very bad weather conditions that put their safety at risk. At 0028 UTC, a RAAF P8 search and rescue aircraft was dispatched to fly over the area and later a civilian aircraft flew from Sydney to Perth in reserve position. The Stoker, a Maritime Services ship, was also called on standby.
Help from "nowhere"
At 1 h 22 UTC, Francis Tolan, skipper of the sailboat Alizés II, a Bénéteau Océan 43 participating in the Long Route, a non-stop race without assistance around the world, proposed
assistance being some 300 miles northwest of Laaland
Then at 0314 UTC, the cargo ship Shiosai (APPROX POS) also agreed to assist and diverted its route to the distress area.
A long wait
At 0507 UTC, GGR organizers spoke to Lepage by satellite phone. The Frenchman pointed out that the water level remained stable, that the pumps were still running and that there was no immediate risk of it flowing.
He also confirmed that the engine had been drowned and was not starting, but that a makeshift rig had to be developed. Laaland continued to drift to 38° 50.33' South 104° 15.27 East, and Loïc waited to be rescued before leaving the ship.
Francis Tolan and his Bénéteau Ocean 43 Alizés II, should be the first in the area to provide assistance
Outside help
The Australian JRCC is counting on the MV Shiosai and the Alizés II sailboat to rescue the French skipper. The Stocker will remain on stand-by until Monday 22 October when a decision will be taken depending on the evolution of the weather conditions and the progress of Shiosai and Alizés II during the night.
In addition, a RAAF P8 search and rescue aircraft will make a direct flight from Learnmonth to the distress area with an ETA scheduled for Monday at 0030 UTC. Two other aircraft were deployed to fly over the area from now until the end of the operation.
