09:45 - Kevin Escoffier's story
"It's surreal what happened. The boat folded over on itself in a 27-knot wave. I heard a crack, but honestly, it didn't take the noise to figure it out. I looked at the bow, it was at 90°. Within seconds, there was water everywhere. The back of the boat was under water and the bow was pointing up to the sky. The boat broke in two in front of the masthead. It seemed to fold up. I assure you, I'm not exaggerating... there was a 90° angle between the back and the front of the boat.
I didn't have time to do anything. I was just able to send a message to my team "I'm sinking. This is no joke. MAYDAY".
Between the time I was on deck trimming the sails and the time I ended up in GST, not even two minutes passed. It was extremely fast.
I got out of the boat, put on the TPS (survival suit) as best I could. I saw smoke, electronics burning. Everything was shutting down. The only reflex I had was to grab the phone to send this message and take the GST that I never put on. I wanted to take the grab bag but I couldn't because the water was rising.
I took the bib (life raft) from the back. The front bib was not accessible, it was already three meters below the water. The water was in the cockpit up to the door.
I would have liked to stay a little longer on board but I could see that everything was going very fast and then I got caught in a breaker and went into the water with the raft.
At the time, I wasn't at all reassured... You're in a raft with 35 knots of wind. No, it's not reassuring. I was only reassured when I saw Jean. But the problem was how to get on board with him.
We said a couple of words to each other. It was Verdun on the water. He was forced to move away for a little while, then I saw that he was still in the area. I stayed in the raft until early morning.
I didn't know if the weather was going to get soft enough to allow for a manoeuvre. He was 2 meters away from me, he sent me the fry with a link but it was hard to stop the boat. Finally, I managed to grab a tube, a bar to get on board. There was still some sea, about 3.50 metres. It's an ordeal in these conditions to get on board a 60', especially when you're constrained in your movements by the TPS. Honestly, it's a good thing that I'm in good shape because I can assure you that it's not easy.
When I was on board with Jean, we fell into each other's arms. He said to me, "Fuck, you're on board! It was hot! ». And I said, "Fuck your race, you were having a great race". He said, "That's OK, last time it was me who had put Vincent's race to bed".
Right now, I have no idea what's next. We'll check with race management. There, I slept well for 2 hours, rested, ate. I did everything I could for the boat. I made it stronger, I did everything I could. I have no regrets about what I did."
03:57 - Jean Le Cam saves Kevin Escoffier
PRB Team was informed of the rescue of Kevin Escoffier by Jean Le Cam at 2:18 am. And it was none other than the PRB director, Jean-Jacques Laurent, who passed on the information, the man being at the side of Jacques Caraës and the race direction. "He's on board with Jean! We just saw him." Indeed, Kevin Escoffier was only spotted aboard Jean's IMOCA, which had his video system connected during the search.
Since 1446, the time at which he had had to leave the boat, the hours had passed without any news of the skipper. Tossed in his life raft on the border with the Indian Ocean, 600 miles south-west of the Cape of Good Hope.
" We had sent Jean back to a position received by the CROSS Gris Nez, a position transmitted by the EPIRB onboard distress beacon. Météo France's drift simulation also corresponded to this track. Jean set off at 00h15 GMT (1h15 French time) on our order to reach this point at reduced speed. He did not find anyone at the given position. He then continued south-east for three-quarters of an hour - one hour. As he was making headway at 1.5 knots in a 20-25 knot wind under very reduced sail (3 reefs in the mainsail and no engine), he disappeared from the screen and we heard him talking. We couldn't see anyone anymore. Then, a few minutes after 1h06 UTC, or 2h06 French time (the time at which he precisely had to retrieve Kevin on board), Jean went back down to the chart table and we saw Kevin arrive in his back in a survival suit. They appeared for a few seconds, both of them in good shape before the video cut. He's fine. Everybody's fine. They're recovering!" explains Jacques Caraes.
Discover Kevin Escoffier's first words in the video at the top of the article. He explains that his boat folded in half in 4 seconds, the bow at 90° and that he only had time to send a text message.
11:20 p.m. - Update
Having warned his shore team of an ingress of water aboard PRB, Kevin Escoffier activated his distress beacon before leaving his boat. His position was 40°55 South 9°16 East at the time it was triggered. Jean Le Cam, diverted by the race management was the first on the scene, arriving at 5 pm, with 3 reefs in the mainsail to be able to remain mobile in the 20 knot winds and 5 metre high waves. He was able to see the skipper wearing his TPS suit in his life raft and talk to him by VHF.
However, by the time it was time to carry out a manoeuvre to get closer to the boat, the latter had lost contact with the skipper of PRB in very heavy seas as the day fell. Since then, Jean Le Cam has not been able to see the liferaft or pick up the AIS. To reinforce the search, the race management diverted 3 skippers who were sailing nearby: Boris Herrmann (SeaExplorer - Yacht Club de Monaco), Yannick Bestaven (Maître-CoQ), then Sébastien Simon (ARKEA PAPREC) to facilitate the search. Jean Le Cam is in contact with the race direction to share information on sea, wind and current conditions.
Yannick Bestaven arrived at 9:45 p.m. on the scene. Boris Hermann must have reached the area around 11:00. Sebastian Simon should join them later. All will have to respect the established protocol: 3 reefs in the mainsail and engine unleaded. The four boats will be doing a grid search of the area to find Kevin Escoffier.
The shore crew reported that Kevin had - in addition to his AIS MOB - enough to report his presence in the liferaft. Daylight is expected to dawn at 4:40 a.m. on the scene. In the meantime, the search continues.
8:30 p.m. - A new skipper rescues Kevin Escoffier
After the skippers of Maître CoQ and Sea Explorer - Yacht Club de Monaco, another skipper asked the race direction to divert. This is Sébastien Simon, skipper of the IMOCA Arkéa-Paprec.
19:15 - Two other skippers are confused
After Jean Le Cam, it was Yannick Bestaven to Boris Herrmann who was mandated by the race direction to join Kevin Escoffier, seen by Jean Le Cam in his life raft.
17:05 - Kevin Escoffier in his life raft
Jean Le Cam is in the area and sees Kevin Escoffier in his life raft. He is going to deplomb his engine to go and recover the skipper of PRB. In the Vendée 2008/2009, after 57 days of racing, Jean Le Cam on VM-Matériaux had capsized off Cape Horn. It was none other than the skipper of PRB at the time, Vincent Riou, who came to his aid. A fair return to the sender?
4:47 p.m. - Kevin Escoffier triggers his emergency beacon
While sailing in third place in the Vendée Globe after 22 days of racing, Kevin Escoffier (PRB) triggered his distress beacon (Mayday). He was making headway on starboard tack behind the front in a steady south-westerly flow. He alerted his shore team at 14:46 to inform them that he had water in his boat.
As a reminder, on 11th November last, the skipper had already discovered an ingress of water aboard his boat, coming from a valve in his starboard foil. He had succeeded in repairing the damage and draining the water.
CROSS Gris Nez has been notified as has the MRCC Cape Town and are in contact with the PRB team ashore as well as the race director, Jacques Caraës and the race management team.
Jean Le Cam - currently in 4th position and less than 20 miles from the skipper, is diverting to reach the boat's last known position at the time his beacon was triggered (40°55 South 9°18 East). He should be in the zone at 1700 hours.
