When someone close to us is in danger, we all have the reflex to help and rescue them. Imagine for a moment that this loved one is tens of thousands of kilometers away and that nothing in the world allows you to reach them or to act immediately to bring them to safety.
This is what Jacques Caraës, the race director of the 9th edition of the Vendée Globe, experienced.
Change of shift
The Vendée Globe race directors never sleep. Like the competitors at sea, it is on the race course 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. To achieve this, as at sea, watches are created, with a team that is always active. The morning watch ended on this November 30, 2020.
Alerted by PRB's Technical Manager
" I'm sinking, it's not bullshit, mayday! "It was with this message on Whatsapp that Marc Fayer, the technical manager of the PRB team, was the first to be alerted by skipper Kevin Escoffier. A major damage had occurred on his IMOCA. The situation seemed extremely serious.
The Race Director explains: " We have a detailed file for each boat, including a safety section. It contains the contact information of the people to contact in case of problem. It is, according to the protocol in place, the responsibility of the competitor's team to do so. Not that we are discharging ourselves, but it allows us to distribute the roles more efficiently, the management leads the race. And, frequently, the teams have met with the sailor's relatives, which helps. "
" It was Marc who called me to tell me he had received this message. It's the only one that Kevin sent. At that time, we tried to contact him, by Skype, Whatsapp and Iridium. No success. "
Alert confirmed by the military of Gris-Nez. " On November 30, 2020, at 13:53 UTC, I receive a call from an operator of the Cross Gris-Nez (Pas-de-Calais, France). He tells me that the EPIRB on board PRB (the 406 MHz beacon) has been triggered. I know at that very moment that the conjunction of the Whatsapp message and the triggering do not indicate anything good."
"On their side, the Gris-Nez guys indicate to contact MRCC Cape Town to raise the alert ".
Prompt reaction
Instant reaction dictated by the urgency of the situation. " We have the position of all the boats in almost real time. I notice that Jean [Le Cam] is the closest to the zone. At this very moment, he is 24 miles from the point where the beacon was triggered. "
The race is not stopped for all that, the roles are divided according to the protocols. Jacques and the close committee put themselves in a bubble.
He describes this bubble, " I am in charge of the contacts with Jean and Gris-Nez. Hubert Lemonnier is in charge of relations and communications with Cape Town. Claire Renou is in charge of the handover. It is fundamental in this kind of situation that the roles are distributed in advance and that no one asks questions. The worst thing to do in such an emergency would be to think that someone has done something. It's not allowed, period. Everyone should know what they have to do and do it, no questions asked. It is better to have warned an authority twice, for example, than to think that the other person has done it. "
Rigor and military organization. The sailor Escoffier must be saved
It takes rigor and well-oiled organization to pull off a rescue. And dedication too: " Hubert was off duty, his shift was over. He joined us, to be useful. Because he knew he had to. "
The marine sense or just humanity, after all, what does it matter?
Kevin is alive
Jean Le Cam went to the zone, at Jacques' request. " Jean diverted. At 16:04 UTC, he was in the area. Immediately, he tells me that he has Kevin's raft in sight. Kevin is alive! "
He details. " By Skype, he explains to me that he had a verbal discussion with Kevin. He put on his GST and he is "safe and sound". As much as one can be in an identical case. I advise Gris-Nez, Hubert advises Cape Town. I keep a permanent visual on Jean by Skype. I let him come and go. He unfolds his tree and starts the engine to be more maneuverable. "
The video plays its role," explains Jacques. " The contribution of the video is immense, it is at this moment that I realize that what can be seen as a communication gadget is in fact a real work tool. Jean kept the Skype conversation open all the time, I could see him working and moving around, without having to interact with him to ask for a status. This is a freedom given to both the rescuer and the organizer. "
The rescue continues. " At 18:12 UTC, Jean informs me that he has lost sight of Kevin during the maneuvers. I feel a moment of infinite despair for him. What happens then is not a race director talking. We're human to human. We talk to each other about how we feel and how we feel. I know that from a distance, I have to talk to Jean. I have a duty, from a distance, to reassure him and tell him the importance of what he is doing. "
Sweeping the area for Yes We Cam!
" Jean returned 6 times to the triggering point without success. I remained in permanent contact with Gris-Nez, which communicated to me locations often different from the beacon. One, in particular, was about 15 miles away. I asked Jean to go there. For nothing. I check with the Frenchmen that the decimal point of the beacon is identical. After all, Kevin could have had several beacons that would have been triggered simultaneously, on contact with the water for example. Or worse, it might not have been the one on the raft. Confirmed, it is constantly the same "explains Jacques.
Location errors due to a questionable choice of beacon, as the race director explained to us There are basically two radiolocation systems. One is based on the Doppler effect, the GNSS, which combines GPS and Galileo [Editor's note: these satellites are located at an altitude of 20,000 km]. It is effective as long as the movements are vertical and only slightly horizontal. It is by calculating the propagation time of the signal coming from the satellite that we can obtain an orthodromic point. Some beacons add localization by Iridium, with satellites that, if they use the same Doppler principle, are a technical complement of another order [Editor's note: the Iridium constellation is made of satellites located at only 780 km altitude Editor's note] in a sea of 5 to 10 m of hollow, an error of calculation has promptly arrived. "
Hello, Cape Town?
The managing authorities are quite inactive, as Jacques Caraës explains. " The contacts that Hubert tried to maintain were rather passive. Soon, I got together with the Northerners of Gris-Nez to get them to take over the operation, because in reality, the French Army was in charge. The South Africans did not really help. It is more us who keep them informed than the other way around. "
Kevin will not be saved tonight.
Night falls on the southern seas. Jean Le Cam has lost sight of his friend. " Kevin thought he had to save batteries. He explained to me that he had gone into survival mode quickly. So he thought it best to turn off his MOB AIS (personal AIS beacon) so as not to eat up too much battery power, when it would have been very useful to have it on. Don't think this is a mistake, no, it's just a choice. He didn't think he could be saved at night, so he didn't set off any pyrotechnics or light signals. Kevin enjoyed the ability to quickly put himself in a survival condition and manage his stress and functioning at the time. He saw himself in this condition for a long time. "
The race management is requesting more ships in the area. " At 18:49 UTC, I asked Maître Coq, Arkea Paprec and Sea Explorer to go to the area. The CROSS contacted the Brest Command to validate the presence of a state ship [a French Navy vessel] in the area. Negative. At 19:44 UTC, Yannick Bestaven and Sébastien Simon were there. "
Use of the MOTHY model from Météo France
Jacques doesn't wait for the boats to arrive at my wrecking ground. " In the meantime, I asked the CROSS for a raft drift. It is Météo France that does it, thanks to the calculations of the MOTHY model. Three quarters of an hour later, we have the answer. Météo France provided us with drift forecasts at +6 and +9 hours from the beacon's activation. We organized the search. Jean is going to rest for a while. "
A military organization is put in place, always documented in advance so as not to have to ask questions. " We send to each boat an e-mail with the search area to be covered and a strategy for scanning this area, established jointly with the Calais military. Secondly, I route Master Rooster on the H+9 band. Sea Explorer goes on the 6 o'clock band. Arkea Paprec is heading towards the most likely drift, West. He sees a luminous point and goes there. The point is about 15 miles from his position. Failure, was it a reflection or something else? No idea. "
Things are accelerating and falling into place.
New beacon positions were found. An opportunity to wake up Jean le Cam, explains the race director. " At 22:52 UTC, the cross-country team informs me that they have received new coordinates for the beacon. Jean is nearby. Obviously, he goes there without waiting. On his way, he finds nothing. But he sees a light, in his southeast. "
We don't think then, we act. " Jean is heading towards this luminous point. It is the raft. It's Kevin. The most surprised of all is Kevin. He really saw himself embarked for several days on this raft. "Jean le Cam immobilizes his IMOCA as best he can. Starting the engine. " In breakdown, the propeller does not unfold. I distinguish by Skype the howling of its engine. Jean beats violently backwards. The propeller unfolds. Jean does not communicate anymore at this moment, he has lost this ability. I believe that there are moments in life when the animal brain takes control of the whole body. This was one of them. "
Maneuvering. Approach. Launching the buoy towards the castaway.
Saved!
It is 01:16 UT. " Kevin Escoffier is saved. He is on board Yes we Cam. Jean le Cam was able to recover the navigator. "
The director is ecstatic, as is his entire team. " I notice the Gris-Nez cross. Without delay, I return to my role of the one who leads the race. I release Yannick, Boris and Sébastien. I send a message to the whole fleet and to the racers. The race starts again. Kevin is saved! "
The rest will be less breathtaking. But still?
John suffers
The race director remains in charge, it's his job to make sure that Kevin Escoffier gets to land as soon as possible. " For him first, as a human being. He feels the need to settle down. To find his family and the security of a bed that does not move. And then for Jean. He must return to his race, close the parenthesis. At least, try to close it. Jean is a deeply human and sensitive guy. He can be seen to be grumpy or grouchy, to give himself the air of a tough guy. But deep down, he suffered a lot for not finding Kevin the first time. And he's still hurting, I know it and I feel it when we talk. It's my job, as Le Cam's friend first, to support my friend. And as race director, to make sure the skippers don't suffer more than they should. "
And Kevin?
" Kevin and I don't know each other as well as we used to, but he's a lovely person and I've had long conversations with him. We are not of the same generation, but this difference does not erase the bond I have with him "explains the director
Tension with the army
Jacques also organized the recovery of Kevin Escoffier from Jean le Cam's boat. " I didn't see how we could get Kevin back in a port. I thought about Kerguelen, but it would take a lot of time. I knew that Nivôse was in the area, so I immediately called the ship's captain, Frédéric Barbe. I recognize in retrospect that I should have respected the hierarchy and the functioning of the army. The men from the Ministry of the Army did not forget to remind me. Don't say it, I have Nivôse's phone number! "
Organization of the transshipment
The Race Director, the CROSS and the French Navy remain in contact. It is no longer a question of diverting one or two IMOCAs, but a 100-meter long frigate. Jacques Caraës explains. " We stayed live for the location of the meeting. The idea was to find an ideal weather moment in a place not too far from Jean le Cam. All the people involved on land and on Nivôse were brilliant and human. "
Place and time found, comes the transshipment of which here is the course: " Jean was on Skype almost constantly throughout that week, including with me. As soon as we knew how things were going to work, the commander of the frigate got all the means to contact Jean. They synchronized, as seafarers, on their side. I followed this recovery from a distance, with a little twinge of sadness for Jean and Kevin who were about to part after so much human energy. "
Technique quickly takes over from emotion. "The Nivôse arrived in the area. Silence on Skype, the military are at work. Jean gathers and reaches the area where Kevin is to be dropped. We watch it unfold, 10,000 kilometers from Sables-d'Olonne, like an action movie. A semi-rigid boat is launched with 4 divers on board. Kevin puts on his wetsuit again. Last greeting to Jean. He grabs the supply bag for his comrade. It contains hénaff pâté . Jean wanted rillettes . The jury accepted my request to supply Yes we Cam. Kevin jumps into the water. The divers hook him. He is saved. Definitely saved. "
Almost touristy for the survivor. Back on board Nivôse. First contact with mother earth for Escoffier.
On the run!
Jacques takes the helm of his race. With his team.
Jean continues his race alone. Alone.
Kevin comes back to life. Saved.
Throughout this memorable week, Jacques Caraës, Marc Fayer, Hubert Lemonnier, Claire Renou, Frédéric Barbe, Anne Le Cam, Sabrina Escoffier, Marc Bonafousse, Jarred Blouws, the divers of Nivôse, the soldiers of the CROSS Gris-Nez, Kevin Escoffier, Jean Le Cam will have reminded us why the offshore race is so beautiful. It is their words, fair and human, without glitter or make-up that we want to capture and offer you.
