A harrowing day for sailors in the Transat Jacques Vabre came to a safe conclusion as Seb Josse and JF Curzon were brought to safety by helicopter in the Azores. Their technical team were due in the Azores this evening ready to attempt a salvage mission. The pair set off their EIPRB beacon at around 10:20hrs Friday morning while 200 miles north of the Azores after the coachroof was badly damaged by the pounding waves. They said that the boat was taking water and required immediate assistance. At one point to a depth of nearly two thirds of hull was filled with water.With storm-force conditions in excess of 55 knots overnight, Sam Davies onboard Artemis Ocean Racing this morning reported further damage to the boat. Sam called the shore team at 1030 GMT this morning to report: "We have lost a mainsail batten (third down from the top) which flew out of the sail, the third reef pin on the boom has gone and our main Iridium handset is broken - either water-logged or from the shock of the boat pounding through the waves."
None of the damage is terminal but the loss of the mainsail batten will compromise their race performance, however in a call at 1700 GMT today, Sam confirmed that after much consideration there is no plan to stop for repairs, but instead to press on in the best direct route to the finish.
It has also been confirmed that Veolia Environnement (Roland Jourdain and Jean-Luc Nelias) is heading to the Azores to try and repair damage to their mast track - the same damage incurred by Brit Air in the opening stages of the race that resulted in their retirement.
With the testing conditions forecast to last for another 24 hours, the British duo (Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson) took advantage of a brief becalmed period to send co-skipper Brian Thompson up the mast to replace the wind wand. As a result of the repair, Aviva has lost miles within the northerly pack of the IMOCA Open 60 fleet, but with the instruments now fully functioning, Caffari and Thompson will be looking to battle through the elements in an attempt to claw back some miles.
The breakaway trio, Safran, Mike Golding Yacht Racing and Groupe Bel continue to profit from the excellent conditions through Sunday, all seeing the speed readouts peaking over 20 knots for periods as the they relish wind, sun and high speeds.
Their Sunday has been a time to re-group, catch up on repairs but most of all simply making sure the pace does not drop off.
As the distance remaining of the 4730 miles course from Le Havre to Costa Rica counted down under 3000 today, Marc Guillemot and Charles Caudrelier's Safran has continued to be a little faster than her pursuers, opening up a lead of 53.7 miles on the British-Spanish duo on Mike Golding Yacht Racing, whilst Kito de Pavant and Francois Gabart is just a little more than 12 miles behind.
The threesome are sprinting south with a cushion of 134 miles back to the British crew on Hugo Boss, Alex Thomson and Ross Daniel, and the best part of 300 miles ahead of the best of the southern group, Foncia. Michel Desjoyeaux and Jeremie Beyou lie eighth.
Golding, pointing out that Safran was still no more than three hours ahead of him, remarked that he felt the three runaways have themselves a 'glamour hand', but that there are no guarantees. The current routings today sees a more northerly course still paying off, with a much more southerly option still bringing that southerly groups in 200 miles behind the leading trio as they enter the Caribbean Sea, but the weather predictions further down the track are changing all the time.
For Sam Davies and Sidney Gavignet on 11th placed Artemis, they have been getting towards the end of their long jobs list, one which has left them exhausted and which Gavignet said this morning has cost them many miles, not least 20 hours or so trying to sort out their mainsail problems.
