Thomas Rtant gave up a lot of ground to Bestaven but the Dunkirk was at least able to resume the race.

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JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP

Not a day or a night goes by without a galley hitting one of the boats entered in the Vendée Globe 2020. On Wednesday, it was Thomas Rouillard's turn to observe serious damage in the hold before his monohull.

A glitch which cost him a lot of cold sweats and, inevitably, a lot of more late limits on the leader Yannick Bestaven.

We explain all this and so much more.

The classification at 9 a.m.

1. Yannick Bestaven (Maître Coq IV) 11,905 nautical miles from the finish

2. Thomas Rouillard (LinkedOut) 101.4 nautical miles from the leader

3. Charlie Dalin (Apivia) 134 nautical miles from the leader

4. Jean Le Cam (Yes we Cam!) 489.8 nautical miles from the leader

5. Damien Seguin (APICIL Group) 500 nautical miles from the leader

Raucous pulls up, Bestaven flies away

Raucous, then.

At

9:30 p.m.

to 10

p.m.

on Wednesday, we learned that the front hold of his

LinkedOut

was filled with water.

The Dunkirk, who was asleep as his ship opened up to the ocean, immediately stopped the boat and took to the cape, head to wind, which is never good news since it is here. 'marine equivalent of storage on the side of the motorway… A necessary precautionary principle before starting your pumps on board.

Thomas Rettant resumed his race.


It was a terrible move that fate played last night on @ThomasRouillard.

The skipper suddenly felt his sailboat "going off in a heap", nosing out into the waves uncontrollably.

▶ ️ https://t.co/zgT0C8QAcf pic.twitter.com/0azZ0Vh7qF

- Vendée Globe (@VendeeGlobe) December 17, 2020

Finally, "shortly after midnight, he announced to his shore team that he would be able to resume his journey carefully, under mainsail and J3, while continuing to dry out the front compartments", explained the race organizers.

But with all that, the skipper saw Yannick Bestaven take off, now sailing more than 120 nautical miles in front of him.

Rouillard, who was already sailing with his port foil less, "will carry out a complete examination of the boat to make a definitive diagnosis explaining this sudden invasion".

The symbolic bar of 50% passed by the leaders

For a few hours now, the leading boats have officially completed the first half of this solo race around the world.

After 38 days of navigation, they have already covered 12,200 miles, or 19,634 km.

Beyou's tranquilou remount

We had almost forgotten it, but Jérémy Beyou, forced to turn around to return to Les Sables d'Olonne from the first hours of the race more than a month ago, is quietly giving us his little comeback. to him.

At the head of the group at the back of the fleet, the Finistérien was very happy to explain during the 5am recording his joy at no longer being alone at sea. "

It feels good to have people around, plus it plays well, it sails well.

They position themselves well in relation to the phenomena, and I even have the impression that it comes back quite a bit from behind.

I try to find a good rhythm on the boat, to take care of it, to pay attention.

He gives it back to me so it's cool!

», He explained.

If all goes well, Beyou should double Cape Leeuwin within a week.

A five-way battle for fourth place

Although 8th at the time of writing, Louis Burton, who has also had to deal with quite a bit of mess on his monohull, manages to find motivation knowing that there is still something nice to go and get in the ranking.

“I have a fast boat, so even at 75-80% of her potential, I manage not to fall too far behind.

It's motivating because in front of our group (Dutreux, Hermann, Seguin and Le Cam), there are only three boats [the leading trio] and that suggests a fourth place, it makes you want, that's it that motivates me.

"

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Vendée Globe: Water in the hold for Thomas Rettant, forced to slow down at the outposts

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