Vendee
Globe - VMI Has Hit A Growler
Sébastien
Josse (VMI), currently 4th in the Vendée
Globe, contacted his shore crew at 1530 GMT to
report that he had just hit a growler at 53°46'S/176°52'E.
At first sight the boat structure doesn’t
seem to have been damaged and the monohull is
not taking on water. However, the pulpit and the
bow sprit are broken. It is daybreak in the Antipodes.
Sébastien Josse (VMI) has not spotted any
icebergs on his radar. Nevertheless, he did see
his first one with the naked eye which was 50
metres long and 3 metres high. It was rounded
in shape and melting. He then hit a small growler
(or small iceberg) under the water which flipped
up the rudder just prior to a violent impact with
another growler which was 15 metres long and 1.5
metres high. Hit at 12-13 knots, the growler didn’t
move, which makes
Sébastien
believe that it must weigh between 20 and 30 tonnes.
Fortunately the French skipper was not injured
in the collision. The youngest skipper of the
race dropped his mainsail and took photos of the
damage to analyse it with his shore crew. The
latter are in direct contact with the boat’s
architect Pascal Conq, and Hubert Desjoyeaux,
manager of the yard where VMI was optimised over
recent years.
Sébastien
Josse is currently making 7 knots, on a heading
of 50°, with 20 knots of wind and a 3-4 metre
swell. He has not yet checked the damage to the
crash-box, but has been able to check that the
hull structure has not been damaged. He is 500
miles south-east of New Zealand.
Source : Vendée Globe 2004
www.vendeeglobe.org
