Early yesterday evening, Armel Le Cléac'h, skipper of the Maxi Banque Populaire XI, reported that he had sustained damage of the foredeck of the boat which led to an ingress of water. After spending the night fixing the problem Armel is back up to higher speeds this Thursday morning. The Vendée Globe winner should finish the Ultim Challenge Race on Sunday in Brest whilst next in will be second placed Thomas Coville, due today around 1300hrs UTC/1400hrs local HF.
It has been a long night of fixing for Armel Le Cléac’h. Around 1700hrs last night, he told his team that he had this leak in the main hull.
“He spent a large part of the night working to plug the gaps and evacuate as much water as possible,” says assistant race director Pierre Hays. Maxi Banque Populaire XI was slow or stopped. Earlier this morning, his team informed race management that he had managed to repair the problem. And so, having been at 2.5 knots for part of the night, he is moving again at 23.4 knots at 0800hrs this morning.
In the meantime, Thomas Coville is expected to close on the finish around 1400hrs local time in Brest.
The two skippers still in the South Atlantic, Anthony Marchand (4th) and Éric Péron, face the same problem: areas of calm. Marchand on Actual Ultim 3 is closer to the coast and ULTIM ADAGIO is further offshore, both are progressing slowly and these calms should last between 24 and 48 hours.
