Hard blow for the youngest of the fleet in the Arkéa Ultim Challenge. The young Tom Laperche (26 years old), skipper of the maxi-trimaran SVR-Lazartigue, was the victim of “major damage” during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, while he was progressing in the South Atlantic towards the Indian Ocean .
“Tom Laperche contacted his technical unit to inform them of damage to the fin following a collision that occurred last night at 4:30 a.m. UT (5:30 a.m. French Time),” the organization said in a press release. On the 11th day of racing of the Arkéa Ultim Challenge, this first round-the-world trip in maxi-trimarans in which six skippers took part, SVR-Lazartigue was in second position in the fleet around 1,300 miles from Cape Town.
“The collision damaged the drift well, causing a significant water ingress which remains stabilized. Tom Laperche is safe and assisted by his technical team to assess the damage and organize operations for the next few hours,” the press release specifies.
After a great start in Brest on January 7, SVR-Lazartigue was in the lead for a long time, in contact with the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild of navigator Charles Caudrelier, now the sole leader. The two sailboats were expected at the Cape of Good Hope on Friday to begin the grueling crossing of the Indian Ocean and the South Seas.
Tom Laperche tries to bring the boat back to Cape Town
A little later on Thursday, the young skipper gave some reassuring news. He will now try to bring his boat back to Cape Town, South Africa, about 4 days away from sailing. “It worked pretty well all night,” says Tom Laperche. I had found good sail configurations and settings, and we were moving neither too quickly nor too slowly with a good average and speed intervals around 35 knots. At the end of the night, I felt a huge shock in a huge crash. Hitting the daggerboard damaged the bottom of the hull and in a fraction of a second, water entered the central portion. I walked around the boat and realized that the boat remained controllable. We quickly had to slow down as much as possible and roll up the sails. We must now bring the boat back as undamaged as possible. »
“The boat was going well until then, she was enjoying herself,” continues Tom. It’s super hard, for the boat, for me and the whole team with all these people who worked so that the Trimaran SVR-Lazartigue was at the start and that after ten days of racing we were at the head of the fleet on a World Tour. We now have to manage these four days at sea without it getting any worse. I managed to set the boat in the right direction and not to go too fast. I will monitor water levels and drift movements. We still have 35 knots of wind but it should ease in a little over a day with calmer seas. I remain in contact with the whole team and we will try to find the best solutions to reach Cape Town.”
The organizers of the Ultim Challenge, the first solo round-the-world race between trimarans, have authorized technical stops for the six sailors entered. However, they must last a minimum of 24 hours once arrived in a port.
On Monday, Armel Le Cléac’h’s Maxi Banque Populaire XI stopped in Récife (Brazil) to repair part of its central hull. He left a day later after losing more than 1000 miles to his competitors.
