Artemis Transat - Vincent Riou on PRB Abandons Ship
The leader in the Artemis Transat sailing race Vincent Riou reported hitting a large sea mammal at 3:00 AM this morning with his Open 60 sailboat PRB, and is now out of the race.
Thought his initial assessment was that the damage remained superficial, Riou realized this afternoon that one of his keel pins was missing, and that the appendage was only held by the ram used to cant it. With an approaching storm, Vincent Riou has decided to abandon ship and has requested assistance, and Loick Peyron onboard Gitana Eighty was directed towards PRB by the Race Direction team. PRB dropped her sails, and filled her ballast tanks to increase her stability. PRB was sitting in 2.5 metres of swell, in 10 knots of NW wind, in light fog about 530 miles from Halifax (Nova Scotia).
PRB's skipper is now safe aboard Gitana Eighty, and Loick Peyron is back in full racing mode - his "passenger" prevented from participating in the race.
ARTEMIS TRANSAT POSITIONS
1 Gitana Eighty
2 Brit Air
3 Generali
4 Safran
5 Roxy
6 Akena Vérandas
7 Cervin EnR
8 Aviva
9 Spirit of Weymouth
RETIRED FROM RACE:
Foncia
BT
Pakea Bizkaia 2009
PRB
Photos by Benoit Stichelbaut
Video 1: The Vincent Riou rescue operation (FRA) Video taken by Loick Peyron onboard Gitana Eighty, of the Vincent Riou rescue.
Video 2: Day 9: Race Update - Summary of what is happening with the iMOCA Open 60 and Class 40 fleets
Submitted By YachtPals on 20 May
Artemis Transat, Vincent Riou, PRB, boats, transat, boat, sailing, sailboats. open 60 sailboats, sailboat
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I claim salvage!
Where is this "fixer-upper" adrift, exactly? ;-)
Vincent Riou rescued by Loick Peyron on Gitana 80
Vincent Riou of the yacht PRB is now aboard Gitana Eighty, and gave us his account of the events which led to his presence aboard Loick Peyron's boat Gitana 80, which is now in the lead.
Vincent Riou:
"Last night at around 3:00 GMT, reaching rather fast, between 15 and 18 knots, I felt a shock which didn't worry me too much since it was violent but 'soft' - I didn't hear any carbon crack. I'm sure it was a shark, and actually I think I cut it in two since I saw two portions emerge at the back of the boat. I assessed the possible damage, and only saw a minor problem on the fairing of the keel box, nothing serious but anyway I slowed down a bit. I took advantage of the ridge we crossed today to stop and get a better look, and that's when I discovered one of the keel pins was missing. The keel was being held in place because it was canted and somehow stuck, but I didn't really want to face the gale expected for tomorrow on a boat whose keel could fall off at any time. I decided to contact Race Direction, and they called Loick to ask him to head towards my position (Ed note - Vincent asked for assistance at 15:00 GMT). Gitana Eighty was only 15 miles from me, I prepared the boat before leaving it. I filled the ballast tanks*, stacked the sails down below to lower the centre of gravity, activated the beacons and got ready. I took that decision quickly, knowing that the weather allowed for a safe operation. I inflated the raft, secured it to PRB and boarded it, then Loick made an approach and I climbed aboard Gitana Eighty. I don't really know what to say, it's like my arms just fell off (...) Now all I can do is make some phone calls to organise the salvage of the boat, which should be done in 2 or 3 days."
Artemis Transat Day 10 Video
Video: Day 10 Artemis Transat
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