By Le Figaro with AFP
Published 22 minutes ago, Updated now
Thomas Coville. LOIC VENANCE / AFP
The skipper, currently 2nd in the race, will have to make a technical stopover in Hobart in Tasmania, his team learned this Tuesday evening.
Victim of slight damage, Thomas Coville, second in the Ultim Challenge, will stopover in Tasmania to carry out repairs on his maxi trimaran Sodebo before starting the crossing of the South Pacific, his team announced in a press release on Tuesday. Coville was on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. 2,700 miles behind leader Charles Caudrelier (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild), who is heading towards Cape Horn. Sodebo is expected to arrive in Hobart Harbor late Wednesday. The regulations require him to stop for at least 24 hours, regardless of the time necessary for the repair.
“Part of the balcony was torn off (area at the front of the central hull) and of the protective net which allows you to move around the bow of the central hull during sail changes”, explains the press release. These elements guarantee the safety of the navigator when he has to go to the front of the boat. “Regarding safety, going to the foredeck, no longer having the port side net, it was very involved”explained the 55-year-old skipper, “I don’t feel capable of engaging the entire Pacific like that. So we made the decision with my team to stop and make a technical stopover. This should last at least 24 hours but unfortunately there are two huge depressions coming and could keep us stuck at the dock for longer...
