Vincent Riou is forced to interrupt the race

At first, Vincent considered the problem to be easily fixed, but later he realized it was much more serious. Keel barely held on, and with the approaching storm the situation could worsen.

As a result, the French sailor decided to leave his 60-foot, for which he asked for help.

Loick peyron aboard his Gitana Eighty, headed to help PRB. At 17.25 Vincent Riou boarded the Gitana Eighty. Safe and sound Vincent Riou gave details of the incident.

Vincent: “Last night at around 3.00 am at a fairly fast pace, between 15 and 18 knots, I felt a strong jolt.

I ran into a shark. I probably cut it in two. I tried to assess the possible damage caused, and at the beginning I thought that nothing serious had happened, but still reduced the speed.

Then I decided to stop and better examine the keel. He could barely hold on and could fall off at any moment. Everything turned out to be more serious than I thought. I decided to immediately report my situation and ask for help. Race officials contacted Loick Peyron as he was only 15 miles from PRB. This is how I ended up on board the Gitana Eighty. After what happened, I literally lost heart, but I hope that the keel will be repaired in 2-3 days and I will continue the race. "

24.05.2008