Big fright in the Vendée Globe when Kevin Escoffier triggered his distress beacon (mayday) on Monday at 2:46 p.m. Then in 3rd position in the Vendée Globe, the PRB skipper was progressing behind a front in a sustained south-westerly flow. He was able to send a message to his shore crew to let them know he had water in his boat. Kevin Escoffier then took his place on his life raft. Help was quickly triggered. The race director asked Jean Le Cam, the competitor who was closest to Escoffier’s last known position, to change his mind. Jean le Cam, who is doing an extraordinary first part of the race, arrived in the area shortly before 5 pm and found Kevin on his liferaft. It should not take long to recover the wrecked skipper.
Part of the Sables d’Olonne on November 8, the head of the race, led by Charlie Dalin (Apivia), has entered for a few days in the roaring 40th, an area between the 40th and 50th parallels in the southern hemisphere, which marks a radical change in racing conditions.
If on Saturday, Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) was forced to retire following a rudder problem, no major damage had yet been reported during the first 3 weeks of the race. However, incidents are not rare. During the 2012 edition, Jean Le Cam, today savior of Kevin Escoffier, had turned around off Cape Horn. Remained in the wreck of his boat, he was then rescued by Vincent Riou, the former favorite skipper of PRB, now sponsor of Escoffier.
