Dismasting off Cape Verde
After 48 trying hours for the first skippers in the 2020 Vendée Globe fleet - they had to negotiate with the tropical depression Theta and gusts to over 60 knots - calm had returned to the North Atlantic.
On the night of Monday 16th November, while he was to the north-west of Cape Verde, Nicolas Troussel, skipper of the IMOCA Corum l'Epargne dismasted. After being confronted with a problem with power generation on board, preventing him from using his automatic pilot, Nicolas Troussel had nevertheless recovered and resumed the race. In fact, he was in 7th position, sailing straight towards the trade winds when his mast gave way.
The sailor is not injured and performs the necessary manoeuvres to secure his boat. It's a big blow for the 46-year-old sailor, who was on his first circumnavigation of the globe aboard the latest generation foiler launched. He also confided to us "to have done everything possible to be at the start of the Vendée Globe one day."
Come back to Les Sables-d'Olonne or repair at anchor
The rules of the race authorise the sailors to return to Les Sables-d'Olonne and set off again up to 10 days after the start, i.e. until 18th November. But without rigging, it is difficult for Nicolas Troussel to opt for this option. He then had the option of finding an anchorage and carrying out repairs, as three other sailors had done before him.
In 2000, Yves Parlier on Aquitaine Innovation had also dismasted while in the south of New Zealand. He had managed to repair his mast on his own by building an oven with a survival blanket and completed his circumnavigation of the world in 127 days, taking 13th place in the rankings.
In 2016, Conrad Colman also completed his Vendée Globe under jury rigging in 110 days and finished in 16th place. Apart from these two cases, only Philippe Poupon in 1993 also finished his round the world race under jury rigging.
Without mast impossible to continue
In the case of Nicolas Troussel, it was impossible to continue the race, as he explained in a message from the boat.
"Hello everyone, Vendée Globe finished for Corum l'Epargne. I dismasted this morning before daybreak. I was quietly in the bunk when I heard a loud noise outside. I went outside, there was no mast left. That's the end of this 2020 Vendée Globe adventure. A big disappointment for all the people who have worked and supported me over all these years to prepare for this race. We'll have to come back. I'm in the process of thinking about all that. It's a lot of investment. It's a lot of sacrifice. Come on, for future adventures."
