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Vendee Globe 2008/09www.vendeeglobe.org/en - Übersicht
26 December 2008
SKIPPER SAFE, BUT BT SUFFERS MASSIVE WIPEOUT IN 60 KNOT STORM
The BT shore team received a call from skipper Sébastien Josse today at 11:47 GMT, reporting having been knocked down by the raging seas generated by the storm the leaders have been negotiating overnight.
Sébastien, whose position was approximately 47º37' S - 159º14' W (approx. 1000 miles ESE of Wellington, NZ) at the moment of the incident, is safe and sound and does not require any outside assistance.
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BT am 09.11.
Foto: Th.Martinez
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Last night in a 60 knot squall, the BT IMOCA 60 was knocked down by a large breaking wave. The boat was pinned down on her side, with the top of the mast under the water, for several minutes before coming back upright, causing damage that Sébastien will assess as soon as daylight will allow him to (approx 15:30 GMT).
From Seb: "Yesterday evening I decided to go further north to avoid the worst of the storm, but conditions were horrendous with breaking waves and squalls up to a steady 65 knots, with hail and snow. I was sailing conservatively with 3 reefs in the index and staysail up when I was knocked down by a wave. The boat heeled over to at least 110º&xnbsp; with the top of the mast in the water. It took me five minutes to get a clear idea of what had happened, but the key parts of the boat are ok - mast, keel and she's floating! It will be daylight in a couple of hours, and I will be able to then make a better estimation of the damage and the next steps, until then I need to take it easy"
Making his way north to escape the storm under bare poles, and waiting for daylight, the skipper will carry out a complete check as soon as possible to assess the damage.
Further information will be communicated this evening European time.
Ranking 25.12.2008
1- Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) à 10497 milles de l'arrivée
2- Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement) à 27,8 milles du premier
3- Jean Le Cam (VM Matériaux) à 171,1 milles
4- Sébastien Josse (BT) à 175,6 milles
5- Vincent Riou (PRB) à 363 milles
Classement des premiers étrangers
8- Samantha Davies (Roxy) à 1493 milles
10- Dee Caffari (Aviva) à 2017 milles
11- Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) à 2032 milles
26.12.2008
BT Seb Josse - Morning Report: sent at 26/12/2008 08:31:03
Latest Positions 0400 UTC
Team DTF/L
1 Foncia 10315.1
2 Veolia Environnement 119.8
3 VM Matériaux 169.0
4 BT 169.3
Full leaderboard, click here http://btsebjosse.com/leaderboard.asp
Latest News Overnight from http://btsebjosse.com
26/12/2008 08:25 Mano a mano
Having benefited from a windshift that must have been more than welcome
after struggling upwind, Michel Desjoyeaux managed to escape once again,
while the battle could not be more intense between Josse and Le Cam,
respectively 4th and 3rd, with only a 0.3 miles delta in terms of
distance to the finish!
25/12/2008 19:29 Sébastien regains some ground.
Michel Desjoyeaux lost a lot of ground on his way towards the virtual
line of the Kiwi Ice Gate, Sébastien is coming back on Jean Le Cam and
is now only 2 miles behind him in terms of distance to finish. As he
said this morning, Sébastien will go along the gate before crossing it
in a couple of hours. Roland Jourdain makes the best operation of the
day and coming back less than 35 miles from the leader.
25/12/2008 11:01 Christmas day live from the boat
Sébastien, in third place this morning, answered the race organisers'
official audio call... Read all about it in our news section - and Merry
Christmas to all!
Follow all the action and find out more about the team at the official
website http://www.btsebjosse.com
Official Data Supplied by Vendee Globe : www.vendeeglobe.org
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