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Datum: 13. Nov 2002 21:17
Loïck Peyron sends a distress signal
Having called the race headquarters tonight at 18:11 French time, Loïck Peyron indicated he had sent a distress signal. Fujifilm, suffering from multiple damages since her starboard float broke this morning, might end up reduced to her central hull. The skipper thinks that the port float will enventually break as well. Too far away from the coastline to be rescued by helicopter, Loïck will be picked up by a re-routed ship.
"I'm sorry to cause you so much trouble", said Loïck to the race directors tonight during the telephone conversation, "but I don't want to end up on a keel-less monohull !" A look back at Fujifilm's worst day ever…
10:30 AM
"I'm fine, I'm fine… It's just my head that's not so great, and my head will have to work properly because there's a lot of things to be done in the correct order in the coming hours, to avoid a worse situation (…)
Right now, it looks like the cover of that book called "heavy weather sailing", it's very beautiful… It's white, white, white… Fabulous. I have 6 to 10-meter waves, if not more, I think that's what broke the float. At one point, I found myself really bent over, I really thought I was going to capsize. The boat was bare pole, it sent me up in the air (…)
I cannot escape downwind for the moment, or I'll tear up everything, the front part of the hull is already tearing up (…) the nose is starting to dive, so I'm about to go out and cut the nets - Oh shit ! I think it broke ! No, it's still here, but pieces of carbon are cracking up all over the place, so it's noisy, it's normal.
Right now, I don't need any assistance, the worst thing that could happen would be to lose the mast - either it will fall on the right side, and I will end up on a prao without a mast, or I'll manage to hold it up there".
13:00
"I predicted a cataclysm, it happened. Everything fell down, damaging the port float this time. It's a real mess to clear up, and there are a lot of backstays and and shrouds stuck in the port rudder. The traction has broken the port float, which is not as badly hurt as its deceased predecessor, a portion of which landed on the deck when the mast fell (…)
Very astonishing, a cataclysm. Since the port float is getting full of water, and I see it getting weaker, the worst part is yet to come. If I manage to fix an autopilot, I can escape downwind with the waves, and it can lead me to the portugese coasts. If the float breaks, it will be tougher, because I think I'll have a hard time staying the right way up with just the crossbeams (…) It's the first time I make so much damage at a time, I was in a pretty good shape !"
The "Gris Nez" (France) Rescue Operations center is currently coordinating the procedure, searching the zone for a ship likely to be re-routed towards Loïck. Tired, the skipper is now getting some rest, taking advantage of a decreasing wind.
Datum: 13. Nov 2002 17:31
Press Release N°19 / November 13, 2002
Fujifilm loses her starboard float and her mast
Loïck had just started working on the deck in order to reinforce the mast when his starboard float, broken in two between the crossbeams, eventually snaped off. As a result, Fujifilm's mast, which was not supported on starboard anymore, fell down. In its fall, the spar injured the port float, which is currently full of water. Loïck is alright, "I just spoke to him on the phone, and his voice is calm", says Thierry Brault", head of the Fujifilm yard.
Aboard Fujifilm, the situation evolves quite rapidly, and Loïck now has to face a few more problems, generated by the fall of his mast. More stable now that the spar is not up anymore, Fujifilm nevertheless suffers new damage on the port float. "The risk, adds Thierry Brault, is that the leftover float might come off too". Yet, Loïck, who's watching the situation closely, says that "there's no risk of rolling over, there's no emergency".
Calm and professionalism
Loïck is surprisingly calm, for a skipper who has to deal with total chaos : in order to reinforce his mast, he had strapped a halyard onto the back of the starboard float, and when the spar fell, he pulled the float portion along…This portion then fell back on the dog-house, smashing it. "It's a cataclysm, there's oil everywhere in the boat, but I can use the Iridium phone without problems". "I told Loïck to leave the boat if necessary, the rescue teams are in stand-by", adds Thierry Brault, "but he wishes to go on like that for the moment".
Running away
250 miles off the portugese coast, Loïck is now trying to escape downwind in order to go easy on the the port float. The wind decreased this afternoon, but will freshen a bit tonight, coming from the north-west : the skipper is in touch with his router Pierre Lasnier, in order to determine the best way to deal with the situation. He currently thinks he will head towards Portugal. "But to do so, I have to fix an auto-pilot… The thing now is to endure weather caprices, on a boat that floats more or less, he says. It's less shaky, less noisy, maybe I'll finally get some sleep". Loïck stays in close contact with his team located in Saint Philibert (Brittany, France), trying to guide him in his diverse tasks. Rescue teams also reindex in alert, in case the skipper required some help.
More information:
http://www.fujifilm.fr/
http://www.loickpeyron.com/
http://www.routedurhum.org/
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