Due to the health crisis on Covid-19, the professional skippers have seen all their races cancelled. However, the year 2020 is the high point for the IMOCA sailors, as they will be taking the start of the Vendée Globe on 8th November.
But not all of them had yet qualified for the solo round-the-world race. To take part in the race, you had to sail either off-race or in race. This was the case for Armel Tripon, who recently launched his new Flemish IMOCA, L'Occitane en Provence.
The Tripon case
However, the latter, which was damaged this Monday at 13:15 hrs, had to make its way to Trinité-Sur-Mer, the boat's home port. Au. Given the structural damage to the boat - two longitudinal rails located on the starboard side, aft of the repaired area - the skipper and his team decided to abandon the race.
However, the fact that he has taken the start of the race gives him the opportunity to ask to sail an alternative course, as stipulated in article 9.3 of Amendment 3 to the Vendée Globe Notice of Race, dated 2nd June 2020. So it's not all over for the skipper of L'Occitane en Provence.
The Seguin case
A few hours earlier, Damien Seguin had also made the decision to abandon the race. Late on Sunday afternoon, the skipper of Groupe APICIL had noticed the breakage of his alternator support, which limited the total recharging capacity of the batteries. While this damage does not allow him to train and measure himself against his rivals, it does not call into question his participation in the Vendée Globe, as the double gold medallist in the Paralympic Games is already qualified and officially entered in the 2020 Vendée Globe.
The Simon case
As he started his first hours of racing, young Sébastien Simon warned his shore team of the breakage of his starboard foil. The skipper of Arkéa Paprec had already suffered several foils damage before and had fitted his boat with a new set of appendages.
While Sébastien Simon has not yet qualified for the next Vendée Globe, he does not have to qualify for the race. He will nevertheless have to complete a single-handed course of 2?000 miles if he wants to line up at the start on 8th November.
