Several Vendée Globe skippers who decided to set off far west were jostled by the winds, which caused damage to several of them.

Maxime Sorel avoided these troubles and found himself in the lead of the race, closely followed by Thomas Rettant.

The Vendée Globe fleet experienced its first difficulties on the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, four days after the skippers set off from the beaches of Sables d'Olonne.

The sailors who had chosen to go far west to encounter strong winds saw all the colors.

Jérémie Beyou, one of the favorites of the race, was thus forced to turn around in the storm off Spain and the Portuguese coast.

Its Charal monohull apparently struck an unidentified floating object, damaging in particular one of its rudders.

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Damage to several sailboats

The navigator thought he could consolidate his sailboat, but in the end, after a full examination of the boat this morning, the repairs turn out to be much more important than he imagined.

Jérémie Beyou therefore decided to return to Les Sables d'Olonne.

At this stage, it is impossible to know whether the skipper will be able to repair his monohull to take to the open sea.

Kevin Escoffier also faced great difficulties: he was the victim of a water leak, because a valve broke in the violence of the shocks.

"Jacuzzi option this morning", he jokes from his boat.

"I came to do my usual check this morning of the front zone… There you go. So here I am mopping up, I don't know what could have broken but it should be fine."

Navigator Armel Trimpon had to slow down due to a problem with the mast mounting.

Maxime Sorel in the lead

Some were lucky not to have any breakage at the end of that hectic night, like Maxime Sorel, who leads the race according to the last score, with his classic Vand B Mayenne monohull.

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Maxime Sorel is still in the lead at the helm of his classic drift monohull Viane by Mayenne.

But he is closely followed by Thomas Rettant, on “LinkedOut”, who is currently the fastest in the race.