The skipper Kevin Escoffier triggered his distress beacon on Monday after noticing a water intake in his ship.

Jean Le Cam, another participant, was confused to come and rescue him.

The latter arrived on site at the end of the afternoon and saw the Malouin on his distress raft.

A major damage.

While he was in third place in the Vendée Globe, in pursuit of the leading position currently held by Charlie Dalin, skipper Kevin Escoffier (PRB) noticed a water intake on board his monohull on Monday.

A major damage that left him no other choice than to trigger his distress beacon around 3 p.m.

The 40-year-old Malouin, an experienced navigator, was advancing towards the longitude of the Cape of Good Hope.

>> Discover Charlie Dalin's logbook for Europe 1

Kevin Escoffier on his distress raft

Kevin Escoffier just had time to warn his team, before a heavy radio silence of a few hours.

The race management, alerted, immediately asked Jean Le Cam to divert to the position of the sailor in distress.

Jean Le Cam was then fourth in the race, about fifty kilometers away.

According to PRB's Twitter account, he arrived in the area at the end of the afternoon and saw the skipper on his life raft.

Proof that the latter no longer felt safe on his boat, which may have sunk in the meantime.

Jean le Cam has arrived in the area and sees Kevin on his life raft.

He will unplug his engine to recover it.



➡ More info to come.

# VG2020 @ VendeeGlobe @ ImocaGS

- Kevin Escoffier - PRB Skipper (@KevinEscoffier) ​​November 30, 2020

The rescue of Kevin Escoffier is therefore underway in a chaotic sea, with hollows probably of 4 to 5 meters. 

>> Find Europe Soir with Julian Bugier in replay and podcast here

The first rescue of the 2020 edition

If this is the first rescue since the start of the race on November 8, it is not the first time that Jean Le Cam has seen a similar situation: during the 2008-2009 edition of the Vendée Globe, he had was rescued by the navigator Vincent Riou.

The latter had managed to get him on board after a perilous rescue operation. 

Of the 33 Vendée Globe starters, two abandoned: Nicolas Troussel (Corum L'Epargne) on November 16 after a dismasting and the Briton Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) on November 28 due to a damage to a rudder.