Paris (AFP)
The skipper Fabrice Amedeo, entered in the Vendée Globe, retired on Friday at the 33rd day of racing after the failure of his second on-board computer which deprived him of weather information, his team announced in a press release.
Amedeo (Newrest - Art & Fenêtres) was sailing in 21st position Thursday at midday and was in the roaring forties when he experienced his computer glitch.
The first computer on board had already been out of service for several days.
"Following a new computer problem, I can no longer download the weather files, calculate the optimal trajectory, the fastest possible but also sometimes the wisest possible. It is possible to continue the old way, without information and crossing the South Seas in this way. But our foil boats are devilish in strong winds (...). I therefore decided to stop my Vendée Globe in Cape Town, "explained Amedeo.
The skipper, who is en route to South Africa, said he was "very unhappy".
"But I know I'm going to bounce back."
The 42-year-old sailor had already been in difficulty during the start of his second Vendée Globe.
It had turned around a few hours after the start from Les Sables d'Olonne, on November 8, because of a crack at the top of the mast.
He started racing again on November 10.
This is the sixth retirement (out of the 33 starters) after those of Nicolas Troussel (Corum L'Epargne) due to a dismasting on November 16, by Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) on November 28 after a damage to the rudder, Kevin Escoffier (PRB), whose boat broke in two on November 30, Sébastien Simon (Arkéa Paprec), on December 4 after hitting an ofni (unidentified floating object) and Samantha Davies (Initiatives-Coeur) , victim of a collision on December 5.
© 2020 AFP