13.12.2008
Refuge at Kerguelen
It was no surprise that the disappointment and sadness was palpable in
Dominique’s voice when questioned at the Race HQ link-up today. Indeed, it
was with a heavy heart that the skipper has seen months, not to mention
years of preparation suddenly vanish to nothing.
Battling with Marc Guillemot and Yann Elies, whose lead he had been eating
into for the past two days, even gaining an edge over Generali at the 1600
hour ranking yesterday, Dominique seemed very much at one with himself on
tasting, for the 8th time, the salt of these austral seas he holds so dear.
During the radio session the skipper related how he had suddenly been
“alerted by the massive heeling of the boat as she broached over onto her
side”. Though he initially thought it was a broach to leeward, once on deck
he immediately understood that the diagnosis was a lot more serious. “At the
point where the keel broke I was flat out. I was down below and had to climb
up the walls to get out. I went up top to ease the sheets but it was
impossible to right the boat. I went to have a look at the keel head and was
dumbfounded. The keel was swinging freely in its box. I couldn’t believe my
eyes; the keel head had completely shattered and there were little pieces of
carbon all over the place. I managed to furl in the large gennaker and right
the boat under indexsail alone. I alerted race management and my team, then I
tried to progressively get the boat moving northwards again with all the
ballast tanks filled, without shaking the keel.”
Deprived of any lateral support from then on, the keel was acting like a
pendulum between the boat’s hull. Accentuated by the sea state, if this
motion caused the boat to heel beyond 45°, it could lead to considerable
structural damage to the boat’s hull, possibly resulting in water ingress.
“The keel is free to swing. If the angle exceeds 45° it may break the hull
bottom and potentially sink the boat.”
Protected from the strong gale about to hit the Baie du Morbihan in the
Kerguelen Islands, the skipper and his boat are out of trouble. This last
night aboard the ‘injured’ monohull proved particularly long for the
skipper. This contrasted with the previous night where, on the look-out for
ice indicated not far from the monohull, the skipper only took his eyes off
the radar for short periods. This time though it was the keel box which was
his primary focus.
To help him through this difficult ordeal, numerous messages of support were
forwarded to the boat and this encouragement boosted the skipper’s rather
wobbly spirits even more than a good cup of coffee. “I’ve kind of done my
grieving for the race though I’m more than sad about it all. I’ve received a
vast number of messages of support in my inbox and I had a very
heart-warming call from my sponsor, which really cheered me up. That was
very important to me and I’d like to thank everyone for that. It was a
massive help. I am all too aware that I’m here thanks to the support of the
people that have got me this far, my sponsor, my friends, my partners as
well as all those who are following us.”
Over the coming days, in coordination with the boat’s architect and the keel
designer, and thanks to the invaluable assistance from the people on site,
Dominique will try to install a system to immobilise the keel. At 49°S,
right in the middle of the Indian Ocean, we can imagine that the means
available to the skipper will be limited. “We’re going to try to find a
temporary means of immobilising the keel. I don’t really know what we’re
going to have to invent yet. My goal is that I’ll be able to head off again
in as safe a condition as possible.”
The skipper is then likely to have to wait for a favourable weather window
to stand a chance of making southern Australia and ultimately envisage
getting the boat back to La Rochelle. For the time being the team have come
to no conclusions about why the damage occurred and at this stage no repairs
can be envisaged without a through examination and the support of the
professionals concerned.
Tying up at 1330 UT, the skipper was given a fantastic welcome by the people
present on the islands and lost no time in taking a hot shower. With a 5
hour time difference, night was beginning to fall in the Kerguelen Islands.
The skipper was planning to enjoy the comfort of a warm bed in order to be
in good shape for tomorrow, where a solid day’s work awaits him.
Official retirement of Temenos II
We can imagine that it was with a heavy heart that Dominique must have made
up his mind to inform race management of his retirement from the race this
afternoon. Making a pit-stop in the Kergelen Islands, after having received
outside assistance, Dominique was therefore forced to retire from the race.
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
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