Josse Out
From Sébastien Josse today, assessing damage after being knocked down in a 60 knot squall the day before:
"Today at around 0500 GMT the wind dropped enough for me to lift the rudder system, and check what the problem was. I quickly discovered that the issue was on the port rudder and understood why the two rudders were not in line anymore." The starboard rudder is undamaged, but the port rudder which would have been fully exposed to the crashing waves when the boat was upside down is badly damaged.
The bond between the carbon and titanium fitting placed at the articulation point between the rudder head and the blade, which receives the transmission bar linking the two rudders, has been broken under the extreme forces of the waves battering the boat whilst it was upside down. This failure explains the misalignment of the whole steering system, preventing BT from sailing at more than 10 knots and making a passage of the Pacific Ocean one risk too far to take. Read more.
