It's a hard blow that Armel Tripon, the skipper of the IMOCA L'Occitane in Provence is currently going through. While he was carrying out his qualification course for the Vendée - Arctic - Les Sables-d'Olonne, in western Brittany, his boat hit a UFO, creating a hole in the hull and an ingress of water on board.
If the skipper has brought his boat safely back to port, the Black Pepper Yachts shipyard is about to embark on a race against time to repair the boat. Indeed, to take the start of the 2020 Vendée Globe, it is imperative for Armel Tripon to qualify in the Arctic Vendée Les Sables-d'Olonne. Indeed, to take part in the single-handed round the world race, the yachtsman has to race and complete the equivalent of a single-handed transatlantic race. However, as the races have been cancelled due to the health crisis, the only thing left to do is to register.
With the start scheduled for July 4th, a little over 11 days from now, we're going to have to work twice as hard.
"During the course of last weekend, Armel Tripon at the helm of the Imoca L'Occitane in Provence hit a floating object as he was carrying out his qualifying course in western Brittany for the Vendée - Arctic - Les Sables-d'Olonne race, which is due to start in 10 days time on 4th July.
As this race is a qualifier for the Vendée Globe and in spite of major damage to the front of the boat and to the starboard rudder, I took the decision in agreement with Reinold Geiger, President of the L'Occitane Group, to take the boat out of the water today in order to carry out the necessary repairs so that she can take the start on 4th July as planned and in complete safety.
Of course, all energies and skills are mobilized around this challenge which, just a few hours ago, seemed insurmountable given the time available." explains Michel de Franssu, manager of Black Pepper Yachts.
