23.12.2004
Special Newsflash
VMI has hit a growler
Sébastien Josse (VMI), currently 4th in the Vendée Globe, contacted his shore crew at 1530 GMT to report that he had just hit a growler at 53°46'S/176°52'E. At first sight the boat structure doesn’t seem to have been damaged and the monohull is not taking on water. However, the pulpit and the bow sprit are broken. It is daybreak in the Antipodes. Sébastien Josse (VMI) has not spotted any icebergs on his radar. Nevertheless, he did see his first one with the naked eye which was 50 metres long and 3 metres high. It was rounded in shape and melting. He then hit a small growler (or small iceberg) under the water which flipped up the rudder just prior to a violent impact with another growler which was 15 metres long and 1.5 metres high. Hit at 12-13 knots, the growler didn’t move, which makes
Sébastien believe that it must weigh between 20 and 30 tonnes. Fortunately the French skipper was not injured in the collision. The youngest skipper of the race dropped his indexsail and took photos of the damage to analyse it with his shore crew. The latter are in direct contact with the boat’s architect Pascal Conq, and Hubert Desjoyeaux, manager of the yard where VMI was optimised over recent years.
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Fotos: Sébastien Josse (VMI)
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