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Vendee Globe: Thomas Ruyant knocked flat, principal working jib shredded

by Vendee Globe Media 3 Jan 17:31 NZDT
Thomas Ruyant was knocked flat in a 55kt squall and shredded his J2 jib © Thomas Ruyant

Vendee Globe Race Control have just reported that on Thursday afternoo, Jan 2 2025, off the coast of Montevideo (Uruguay), Thomas Ruyant was suddenly caught in an extremely violent squall with winds exceeding 55 knots.

The squall was so strong and sudden that Ruyant’s IMOCA Vulnerable was knocked flat.

The Koch-Finot Conq design righted itself promptly but it was to the detriment of the headsail which he had been sailing with for several days The J2 is a working headsail of approximately 100 m2 fixed to a structural. The sail suffered in this brutal broach. Ruyant waited for a lull to go out on deck to assess the damage.

The J2 is reported to be shredded and so now unusable. This incident comes on top of damage suffered a few days ago to the first reef of the mainsail, which he can no longer set despite numerous repair attempts.

The skipper from Dunkirk is currently fourth in the provisional ranking of the 10th edition of the Vendée Globe.

The latest update on the incident, with video is in Sail-World's daily Vendee Globe report from Mark Jardine:


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