(December 30, 2024; Day 51) – After incurring a major breakdown to the steering system of the IMOCA Maître CoQ V’s on December 27, defending Vendée Globe champion Yannick Bestaven has withdrawn from the the 10th edition of the round the world, solo, non-stop, and without assistance race.
Unable to repair the damage at sea, Bestaven will stopover in Ushuaïa to address the various breakdowns suffered in recent days. He will be joined by part of his technical team in Argentina.
While sailing in around thirty knots, in rough seas (5 meters of waves) towards Cape Horn, Bestaven contacted his technical team on land on December 27 at 9:00 pm UT to warn them of a major breakdown to the steering system for the Maître CoQ V monohull.
The sailboat had become unmaneuverable but the skipper, an engineer, did manage to set up a temporary solution, using ropes to steer his boat towards Cape Horn but in degraded mode that enabled him to round the third Cape of the course on December 29.
Previously, Bestaven faced the loss of his Code 0 on December 24, damaging his starboard foil when recovering his sail from the water. A few days later it was his FR0 (one of the headsails) that exploded while Maître CoQ broached in a squall, plus Bestaven noticed outer skin problems on the starboard aft quarter of the boat hull.
His technical and sporting director, Jean Marie Dauris, his boat captain Stan Delbarre, his rigging manager Yvan Joucla and his composites expert Ludo Bosser, as well as the engineer Arnaud Chaigne in charge of the on-board electronics will take a flight on December 30 to join him as soon as possible and begin the reconditioning work.
Before the start the 2020-21 race, winner Bestaven had announced that this Vendée Globe marked his last solo race. Even if the race is not going to end as he had imagined, he is still keen to sail his boat Maître CoQ V solo back to Les Sables d’Olonne, once it is reliable.
Race updates – Tracker – Ranking – Facebook
Attrition:
Nov. 15: Maxime Sorel (FRA), V and B – Monbana – Mayenne – ankle injury, mast damage
Dec. 4: Louis Burton (FRA), Bureau Vallée – rigging failure
Dec. 15: Pip Hare (GBR), Medallia – dismasted
Dec. 16: Szabolcs Weöres (HUN), New Europe – broken D2 shroud
Dec. 30: Yannick Bestaven (FRA), Maître CoQ V – steerage damage
The Vendée Globe, raced in the 60-foot IMOCA, is the elite race round the world, solo, non-stop, and without assistance. On November 10, 40 skippers started the 2024-25 edition which begins and ends in Les Sables d’Olonne, France.
Armel Le Cléac’h, winning in 2017, holds the record for the 24,300 nm course of 74 days 03 hours 35 minutes 46 seconds. Only one sailor has won it twice: Michel Desjoyeaux in 2001 and 2009. This is tenth running of the race.
Source: VG2024, SSN-https://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2024/12/30/damage-derails-vendee-globe-champion/
