Two days after encountering an unidentified floating object, Sébastien Simon (Arkea Paprec) made the decision to abandon the Vendée Globe, because the repairs are too complicated.
Fourth retirement in the Vendée Globe 2020-21! After Nicolas Troussel (Corum L’Epargne), Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) and Kevin Escoffier (PRB), Sébastien Simon (Arkéa Paprec) is forced to give up after 25 days of racing. The 30-year-old skipper, who was taking part in his first Vendée Globe, on a foil boat launched in 2019, hit an unidentified floating object on Wednesday morning, when he was fourth in the ranking and had crossed the Cape of Good Hope . He had then headed north to try to find a calmer sea in order to see the damage. And after two days of reflection, the verdict is in: he will not be able to repair his starboard foil and well on his own, and is forced to give up.
“With the team, we thought a lot about possible repairs. But to consider them, I had to sacrifice my foil, cut it. It is a super massive piece of 300 kilos. Then it would then have been necessary to repair the hull from the outside and on the deck to make the foil well waterproof. For that, I had no choice but to divert myself to Cape Town. These repairs promised to be very complicated. Probably, four to five days of work without counting the repair of the bulkhead and a problem that I discovered on my rear rudder sleeve which generated a second water leak… The weather for my arrival in Cape Town was very unfavorable, I wouldn’t have been able to tackle the repairs for two or three days after my arrival. Above all, all this is unreasonable because it was not guaranteed that the repairs would hold for the rest of the race. I can not continue. I didn’t think I would stop there, I was 4th in the Vendée Globe. I thought I would succeed in doing something in this Vendée! I gave everything I had. I put a lot of passion and energy into it, I wanted to get there. The adventure ends there. I am sorry to everyone. All my partners supported me until the end. All that gives me only one desire: to leave, to be present in four years. It was a great experience, a unique opportunity. Thank you very much to everyone for allowing me to carry out this beautiful project with this beautiful boat ”, reacted the skipper after having made the decision to give up. There are therefore only 29 skippers left, hoping that Samantha Davies (Initiatives-Coeur), who also collided with a UFO on Wednesday, will not be forced to make the same decision.
.@SebastienSimon_ abandon it #VG2020
Wednesday morning, at 9:20 am HF, ARKEA PAPREC had collided with a UFO. This shock had caused significant damage to the boat. But this morning, the Sablais had to face the facts. Repairs are impossible. ➡️ https://t.co/sHPCZQWH6T pic.twitter.com/kM2IKHmvax
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