The skipper of solo round-the-world yacht Paprec-Virbac 2 looks set to bow out of the Vendee Globe race after hitting a submerged object during the night.
Jean-Pierre Dick lost his port rudder and assembly off the transom early yesterday morning and was limping north to calmer seas fromwhere he will head to either French Polynesia or New Zealand.
Dick damaged his starboard rudder in a similar type of collision with a semi-submerged object 16 days ago when leading the race. He had fought valiantly to make a repair, and was in sixth position deep in the southern Pacific Ocean when the blow occurred.
The Frenchman was unharmed but considered that his race was over.
"I was sleeping and heard a big bang, a loud noise. I rushed outside and saw the port rudder was out of the water and was wobbling around.
"The whole structure has been damaged. I was just about to put on my foulies [wet weather gear], when the whole thing broke off and fell in the water. It all happened in less than a minute. It had to be the port rudder when the starboard one was already damaged. "I hit a UFO, probably a growler [ice], and it's extremely depressing to see that again. Sailing with one rudder would be dangerous. The Vendee Globe is over for me," Dick said.
"When I got out I could see the port rudder was up and a few seconds later the whole thing, the cassette, everything, dropped and sank deep into the Pacific. I could only watch.
"It is so very disappointing. There is such a lot of work to participate and try to win. It is a four-year campaign with a new boat, and a lot of big personal involvements. It's your whole life. And everything is gone. You are without that objective. It is not good."
Meanwhile, the race leaders were on the straight line to Cape Horn, 2574km away, with Michel Desjoyeaux holding a lead of just less than 160km over Roland Jourdain.
The leaders have to choose between heading south in search of stronger winds or keeping with the straight-line course and risking less consistent breezes.
