March 29, 2024
Foncia (Photo by B. Stichelbaut / Sea&CO )
Foncia (Photo by B. Stichelbaut / Sea&CO )

Following the first news this morning of Foncia’s breaking their mast top this report was sent from Foncia’s Michel Desjoyeaux and François Gabart  at 0659hrs this Wednesday morning.

“ On January 26th 2011 at 0240hrs UTC positioned at 41°12,6 S and 8°59,8 E Foncia was sailing a course of 115 degrees at an average of 18 knots under Solent and one reef with the wind at 140 degree blowing at 25-30 knots, wind swell, and had the same conditions for around eight hours.

The mast broke above the solent hound, in other words around 25 metres above the deck (27.3m long tube). The rigging is still up held in place by the lower shrouds, the runners, the staysail stay and main jib stay. The broken section is hanging down at 20m up and is still held in place by the halyards. The solent, unfurled, because in use when the damage occurred was twisted around the whole mast.

The mainsail is held by its halyard at the third reef. Everything has stayed on board, nothing lost overboard. I can’t hide our disappointment, but we are healthy except I have a little pain in my right thumb which I got when I was trying to get the Solent under control.

We do not ask for any assistance. We are currently trying to head for Cape Town under sail, around 600 miles off. Our current speed is 11 knots course 76 deg. The forecasts for the next few days show no risk (today 25 to 30 knots from the S, weakening and clocking W). In two days the passage of the anticyclone (bringing light winds). If the seas are slight then maybe we will have the chance to climb the mast to recover the pieces and to be able to drop the mainsail. After that we should see 20-25 knots from the SE in to Cape Town.

Our ETA Cape Town then  should be 30th or 31st January.

We retire from the Barcelona World Race.”

Their close rivals Jean-Pierre Dick  and Loïck Peyron onboard Virbac-Paprec 3 sent the Foncia duo this message of solidarity: “Hello guys, this is really not good news. We really had become inseparable, motivating each other all the time, asking ourselves each day if we could hold up this pace until the end. It’s been a great honour to have been in this battle together. Good luck for the rest of the passage and our hearts go with you.”

Foncia are scheduled to be on today’s videoconference from 10h00 GMT in French and English.

Following the official retirement this morning of Foncia, MAPFRE moves to second place overall in the race, 543 miles behind, with Estrella Damm third at 729 miles behind.
Any expectation that Jean-Pierre Dick and Loïck Peyron are running away seem set to be scotched as a big high pressure is set to move into their path, a roadblock which they will need to negotiate, expecting the centre to be over them on Saturday.
Of course Virbac-Paprec cannot circumvent the anticyclone because of the security gates.

And by tomorrow the Spanish-French peloton, sequentially Groupe Bel, Estrella Damm and then MAPFRE will be given a fast ride east on the next low pressure system, which should reach Groupe Bel, first and MAPFRE last – based on current positions.
So the stretched rubber band is programmed for release, catapulting the chasing pack towards the leading French duo. Models suggest the biggest gains might be to Pepe Ribes and Alex Pella on Estrella Damm, who might recoup something like 150 miles on the leaders, and also gain on MAPFRE.
There is little to excite the tail of the fleet who seem set to struggle south, looking for their first train east.

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