Sinking of the Figaro Bénéteau 3 NF Habitat
During a conveyor of Port La Forêt to join Saint Quai Portrieux where it was due to start the Tour of Brittany Sailing on Saturday 7 September, the Figaro Bénéteau 3 NF Habitat sank off the Aber Wrach after hitting an unlit floating cardinal buoy on the night of 2 September.
"At around 6 a.m., while it was still dark, we hit the unlit and unfixed Paupian low cardinal buoy off Portsall. We stopped and inspected the boat immediately without seeing any major damage, then very quickly the boat filled with water. We didn't have time to operate the pumps, as the batteries were already flooded. We were just able to warn CMB Espoir, who was sailing nearby, that we were taking on water. They turned around to come to our side, as well as CMB Performance. As the boat sank very quickly, we decided to leave the shore to join the Figaro CMB Espoir after launching the liferaft. We stayed close to our sailboat floating between two waters, the deck at sea level, until the SNSM came to pick us up. We tried to tow the boat several times, managing to get closer to the port of Aber Wrac'h until it finally sank, near the entrance to the channel. The SNSM launch has put a buoy nearby to signal the wreckage." says Christian Ponthieu.
If his skipper - Corentin Douguet - was not on board - the crew was composed of his technical trainer and his co-skipper, Christian Ponthieu. These were first recovered by CMB Espoir before being taken over by SNSM.
While the search and refloating operations are underway, the two skippers are preparing another Figaro 3 to take part in the Tour of Brittany Sailing.
Capsizing of the trimaran Ultim Emotion
On Monday 2nd September, while off the coast of Portugal, the trimaran Ultim Émotion (formerly Gitana 11) capsized at around 5am. He was on his way to Sète, in the South of France. The five sailors on board were hoisted by Esquadra 751 of the Portuguese Air Force.
Sinking of the tuna boat Queen of the Floats
The Queen of the waves, the tuna boat of Gâvres - the commune of Morbihan at the entrance to the bay of Lorient - sank on Thursday 29 August 2019 while it was in the Bay of Biscay, several dozen miles off the coast. The cause was a propeller shaft failure that could not be repaired by the crew. The blue-hulled vessel was towed for several hours by a trawler before sinking. All six crew members were rescued and none of them were injured.
Hangar exit for IMOCA DMG Mori
After 9 months of work, the IMOCA DMG Mori - aboard which the Japanese skipper Kojiro Shiraishi will be racing in the 2020 Vendée Globe - left the Multiplast hangar on Saturday 31st August 2019.
This new IMOCA - the 4th of the latest generation to be launched since the beginning of 2019 - is the sistership of Charal, the first new generation IMOCA. In fact, the site was able to work with Jeremy Beyou's team to optimize the 60-foot boat. The launch was carried out on September 2, but there is still a lot to be done to get the boat ready to sail.
