A patch of relatively mellow weather, and Kevin was able to transfer to another vessel and let Jean le Cam get back to racing. Cool video!
Reposted from https://lies.tumblr.com/post/636817563710554112.
One more on-board interview with Kevin and Jean, with a little more detail from Kevin about the sinking.
Reposted from https://lies.tumblr.com/post/636324581206016000.
Kevin’s account of the sinking of PRB. It sounds like there was a catastrophic failure with the bow section bending up 90 degrees and the boat sinking really fast. He basically had time to send one text message and then grabbed his emergency bag and transferred to the liferaft.
I know some people are really into the design competition that you get with open classes. But I think the Volvo 65s showed the way forward for this kind of racing: Make the boats strong enough and depowered enough so they can survive, then let the competitors compete. It’s plenty exciting without the boats basically exploding out from under people.
It’s like with the ice limits for Southern Ocean routing. If you don’t have the limits, then competitors have to decide whether to run more risk to have a shot at winning, or be relatively safe but know they have no chance. So take that decision out of their hands. They have families.
Reposted from https://lies.tumblr.com/post/636323842385641472.
Jean le Cam on his rescue of Kevin Escoffier last night.
Reposted from https://lies.tumblr.com/post/636323153579245568.
Official update. Fills in a few details.
Guided by Race Direction Le Cam arrived on zone around 1615hrs UTC and quickly established visual and voice contact with Escoffier who was in his liferaft but he was unable to retrieve him in the big, 5m, seas and 20-25 knot winds.
As he was manoeuvring to prepare to get closer to the liferaft Le Cam lost sight of the liferaft and could not establish radio contact nor to pick up the signal from the AIS the range of which was reduced by the heavy seas.
He lost sight of Escoffier in the dying light but has continued to try and locate him, Le Cam is communicating regularly with Race Direction and the rescue authorities. The three other skippers are now in, or are approaching the search area. The positioning of Kevin Escoffier’s personal beacon (AIS MOB Man Over Board) emits HF radiowaves and will only be detected in the local zone.
The four skippers will follow a protocol established by Race Direction in coordination with Jean Le Cam. They will approach with three reefs in the mainsail and the engine idling. A grid search area for the zone has been established and will be carried out by the four IMOCAs who are set to provide assistance.
The PRB shore crew said that besides his AIS Mob, Kevin Escoffier also means to signal his presence in the liferaft. Daybreak tomorrow morning is around 0340hrs UTC in this zone and the search will be ongoing.
Phrases like “lost sight”, “try and locate”, and “grid search area” make me very nervous. Daybreak is about five and a half hours from now.
Reposted from https://lies.tumblr.com/post/636249892696817664.
There’s a lot of yacking by interested online sailing fans, but not much information. All we know for sure is:
* le Cam arrived on scene and reported that he’d seen Kevin in his liferaft, and was going to start his engine and attempt to recover him.
* Darkness fell with no public updates. There was some chatter about le Cam having had engine trouble, or having had problems maneuvering under power, but it’s not clear if that was based on actual radio communication or is just the Internet being chatty.
* The Vendée Globe race authority asked two more skippers (Yannick Bestaven and Boris Herrmann, the latter aboard Malizia, the same skipper and boat that gave Greta Thunberg her westbound trans-Atlantic ride last summer) to divert to the area to assist.
* Later the race authority also requested that Sébastien Simon divert to the area.
* Conditions are rough and windy, but expected to moderate somewhat by morning.
So that’s where we are. It sounds (though this is all guesswork) like PRB sank relatively quickly, forcing Kevin into his liferaft (hopefully in a survival suit). le Cam was unable to recover him before darkness fell, and presumably is standing by, hopefully in the vicinity of the raft, until morning, when another attempt can be made.
Some Sailing Anarchy discussion currently centers on the reaching-back-and-forth track of le Cam’s boat, with a mile or so on each of the legs, and whether that looks like a search pattern or just someone hanging around a known location without doing too many maneuvers. Who knows? (Well, presumably one or more people in the middle of the south Atlantic know, and maybe a few more people in radio communication with them. But other than that, it’s wait and see.)
Kevin is a badass, a pro sailor who’s been around the world multiple times. In fully-crewed races he works the pointy end of the boat, which is not a place for the faint of heart. But being in a liferaft for 12 hours in the Southern Ocean is no joke. All of them, but especially Kevin, are certainly battling fatigue and hypothermia.
Reposted from https://lies.tumblr.com/post/636247225674203136.
