Pamela Lee's Class40 #EMPOWHER Suffers Major Sail Damage Mid‑Atlantic in Transat Café L'Or

5th November 2025

Afloat.ie Team

Aboard Class40 #EMPOWHER (hull 178) Irish skipper Pamela Lee and Jay Thompson battle rough seas during the transatlantic race, now facing major sail damage but pressing on.

Irish skipper Pamela Lee of Greystones and US co‑skipper Jay Thompson aboard their Class40 #EMPOWHER (hull 178) are now limping through the Atlantic in the Transat Café L'Or after heavy seas and serious sail damage, off the Azores, approximately 1500 miles off the coast of Portugal.

They described the front as “pretty fxxxxxx wild” with headsail failure and gusts up to 50 knots shaking the boat.

Pamela Lee of Greystones and US co‑skipper Jay Thompson aboard their Class40 #EMPOWHER

The Wicklow yachtswoman is featured in eighth place on the race's official tracker on Wednesday, November 5th.

Lee said the slamming was so intense she “couldn’t even have my phone in my hand because it was jumping out …”

The pair manoeuvred the boat with extreme heel to ride the waves, but when they rolled the J1 headsail they split it badly. They then hoisted the J2, only for it to be “shredded from the head to the foot.”

With only a storm jib and a genoa remaining, the team is now moving more slowly and reassessing strategy. They say they are “licking our wounds” and deciding whether to stop for repairs or carry on through degraded conditions to reach the trade winds.

Lee said: “We were doing well … we took a strategic move that we thought was going to pay off.”

Now frustrated but focused, the duo are reviewing routing options and payloads to optimise what remains of their campaign.

Listen to the audio from the pair below

Afloat.ie · Sail Damage for Ireland's Pamela Lee in Transat Café L'Or

Published in Pamela Lee, Transatlantic Jacques Vabre

Published in Pamela Lee

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About Pamela Lee, Irish Offshore Sailor

Ireland has produced some of the world’s most dedicated offshore sailors, and Pamela Lee of Greystones is one of them. She has made a name for herself in the sailing world, having worked as a mate on a charter Super-yacht for two and a half years. After coming ashore, she has been fully committed to her offshore sailing ambitions since 2019.

Lee has raced in various craft, including Figaro 3s, Class 40, Tp 52s, and multihulls, and has eight transatlantic crossings under her belt. In partnership with Kenny Rumball, Lee supported Rumball’s La Solitaire du Figaro sailing campaign to secure the Irish berth in the proposed Mixed Offshore Keelboat event for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

One of Lee’s stated main aims is to promote female empowerment in sport, and she set out to establish a double-handed Round Ireland speed record with Englishwoman Cat Hunt in the winter of 2020. This campaign gained much publicity, and Lee expressed pride in bringing sailing and offshore sailing, in particular, into the conversation for 2020.

To further her offshore sailing career, Lee moved to France, where she has recently secured a place to skipper a yacht in the Transat Jacques Vabre Challenge in October 2023. Lee’s passion and dedication to offshore sailing are inspiring, and her achievements are a testament to her hard work and perseverance.