And then there were none. just three days after two Ultims set off on a head-to-head around the world, Jules Verne non-stop record bid, both return to France after suffering foil damage on the same day.
The two Ultim foiling trimarans which had set off on a Jules Verne Trophy around the world non-stop record attempt have both aborted their current circumnavigation.
Francois Gabart's SVR-Lazartigue was first to end its record bid. At 0110 (UTC), Tuesday, December 3 the crew reported that they felt an impact while sailing in 25-30 knots of wind, around 500 miles from the Azores. The impact was described as a shock from an 'OANI', or an unidentified animal or object, the marine equivalent of a UFO.
The crew discovered that the trimaran's starboard foil was damaged, and made the decision to turn around, heading back to the team's home port of Concarneau, Brittany, as soon as possible. The Ultim is expected to reach port between Friday 8 and Sunday 8 December.
After three days of racing, the SVR-Lazartigue crew were at best 145 minutes behind Francis Joyon on IDEC Sport's record time from 2017. On day three the crew also hit a sustained speed of 49.9 knots.
