Transat Traumas
It
was a dramatic weekend for the Artemis Transat fleet, though not for Loick
Peyron and Armel Le Cléac’h, who sailed serenely into Boston
on Friday night, in first and second place. That gave Peyron two records;
as well as taking the race record, with a time of 12d 11h 45m 35s, he
also became the first person to win the event three times.
Out
at sea, the tug Atlantic Oak had found and taken in tow the abandoned
PRB, which was good news for Vincent Riou to hear, when he stepped off
rescuer Peyron’s boat. Asked how he felt about having to abandon
the Open 60, Riou said “When I had to leave my boat, I felt angry.
It’s hard to come to terms with idiotic situations like that one,
but I made the right decision. There’s no point taking unnecessary
risks with the Vendée Globe just 6 months away.”Meanwhile,
it looked like there was going to be another “Abandon Ship”
on Friday, when the organisers warned that Yvan Noblet on Atlant City
had suffered “une avarie serieuse” (serious damage) and was
preparing his survival suit and life raft. Happily, a call by BYM News
to the Canadian and American rescue services set wheels in motion and,
eventually, the rescue people ascertained things weren’t quite that
bad. The boat had suffered some delaminating in the forepart, but Noblet
judged that he could make the French Island of St Pierre et Miquelon,
off Nova Scotia, 400 miles away.With
other Class 40 competitors reporting tying themselves in their cockpits
in 40 knot winds, nobody was surprised to learn that a loud bang on Alex
Bennett’s Fujifilm had just preceded the mainsail crashing down
into the water.Then
came the news that Yann Eliés, in third place overall, had glanced
upwards and seen that the top starboard spreader was about to part company
with the mast, putting Generali in danger of dismasting! A hasty
sail reduction to two reefs and a staysail, followed by a course change
saved the situation and Eliès was able to limp into Boston with
the mast still vertical. Photo
onEdition. More photos here.
