Brutal Route du Rhum - Ultim Banque Populaire XI skipper rescue, complex weather systems cause chaos

*Defending champion out* After 48 hours at sea Charles Caudrelier noticed Gitana 18 was behaving abnormally and failing to take off. He inspected the port Y-shaped foil and saw that it was seriously damaged. The composite layers along the trailing edge of the foil shaft had been torn away, together with the hydraulic hoses connected to the foil. "From Charles's account and the first photographs he sent us, we quickly realised that the damage was serious.”, explained Cyril Dardashti, general manager of the team. “Its extent and location, high up on the foil shaft, meant that there was absolutely no possibility of him carrying out repairs alone at sea, or of our technical team making a quick and effective repair along the course. What we can confirm at this stage is that the damage was not caused by a collision with an external object.” The yacht is currently aiming north east, towards the Bay of Biscay and Lorient, where the team can further assess the problem and its cause. *Banque Populaire XI skipper rescue* Armel Le Cléac'h was rescued from the upturned Maxi Banque Populaire XI by the crew of Palexpo, a Panamanian cargo ship, and is safe and well on board. In this video from Táo HP, the underside of the hulls look undamaged here, but the sails can be seen close to the surface, which would suggest the mast has broken or the boat has been dismasted. The Voile Banque Populaire team will now be looking at options as to how they can recover the boat, which is situated approximately midway between the Azores and Newfoundland. Recovering a 130-foot long trimaran will be no mean feat, and the dangers are storms and items of rigging causing damage to the hulls and it sinking, so time will be of the essence. *Ultim update* Of those still out on the racecourse in the Ultim trimaran class, it is Tom Laperche on SVR-Lazartigue who holds a lead of nearly 500 nautical miles over Thomas Coville on Sodebo Ultim 3 in second and Louis Burton on Ultim Armand Thiery in third. With the trade winds not playing ball, the northerly route has been the option for all the Ultims, but it was Tom Laperche who navigated the transition zone to the northwest of the Azores best, managing to break away from his pursuers by continuing north while the others chose a more southerly option. He now has just over 600 nautical miles to go until the finish line in Guadeloupe. Laperche said this morning, "We’re right in the thick of it. We’re waiting for the wind to shift so we can catch a south-westerly breeze all the way to the Antilles. I’m a bit on edge because I don’t want to lose too much ground during this transition." *Ocean50 update* In the Ocean50 trimaran class it is Basile Bourgnon on Edenred 5 who is making the running ahead of Pierre Quiroga on Wewise. The sailors had to navigate a thin strip of wind to the north of the Azores which involved multiple gybes, before transitioning across to the larger weather system to the west. The leaders are currently travelling at around 23 knots and Bourgnon’s lead is now 88 nautical miles with just over 1300 nautical miles to the finish line. *IMOCA update* In the IMOCA class we’ve had news in that Italian skipper Ambrogio Beccaria has been forced to retire from the race after a heavy fall in the cockpit last night while he was in fifth place. He is suffering from severe back pain and is heading to the Azores for medical attention on arrival. At the head of the fleet Corentin Horeau on MACSF has extend his lead to 274 nautical miles over Boris Herrmann in Malizia 4 with Sam Goodchild on Macif Sante Prevoyance 20 nautical miles further back. *Class40 update* Around the Azores, the tough conditions are battering both the sailors and their boats in the Class40 fleet and Saturday looks set to bring another dose of rough weather. Some sailors need more wind, others have more than enough, and some exhausted skippers just want some respite. With the Class40 fleet split on a north-south line, it is very difficult currently to work out which of the strategies will pay as the weather systems continue to develop. With a tropical depression near the Antilles, the chaotic low around the Azores, and a notable absence of trade winds, driven by the strong l Niño event in the Pacific Ocean, the six fleets in the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe are dealing with very different worlds. Track the fleet at https://www.routedurhum.com/cartographie Thumbnail photo (c) Boris Herrmann / Malizia 4 #sailing #routedurhum #ultim #imoca