Vendée Globe: Foil damage on LinkedOut

(November 25, 2020; Day 18) – While lying in second place in the South Atlantic, some 72 nautical miles behind Vendée Globe leader Charlie Dalin (Apivia), Thomas Ruyant sustained damage to the port foil of his IMOCA LinkedOut. He had to stop for a short period to assess and says he will now be unable to use the foil on the port (left) side of his boat for the remainder of the race.

Ruyant told his team that it was around 0200hrs UTC this morning while he was resting inside his 2019 Verdier-design LinkedOut, that he was woken by a loud noise outside the boat. He did not, however, feel any shock to the boat. But on inspecting the boat with his headtorch, he immediately noticed major cracks in the ‘shaft’ of his port foil.

The foil is made up of two parts, a ‘shaft’ and a ‘tip’. It is the tip that allows the sailboat to come out of the water thanks to the lift force it exerts. The shaft is the part the foil which connects the tip to the hull.

Ruyant immediately stopped the boat and sailed downwind to further inspect the damage.

“I was about 120° to the wind, I was sailing at about at 20 knots when I heard this loud noise,” reported Ruyant this morning. “I don’t really have an explanation. I have retracted the foil as much as I can but most of the appendage is on the outside of the boat.

“In daylight I was able to inspect the foil and its okay at the top and speaking with my team and the architects it seems safe. There is no water coming in and the foil well itself is undamaged.

“But the foil itself is cracked in a number of places. The structure of the foil is compromised. I am waiting for the designers analysis to see if I should cut it.”

Ruyant is massively disappointed but is staying positive. “Small problems have built up which I managed to deal with (but) these really are topped by this damage. I carry on racing nonetheless even if I am a bit handicapped with only one foil. But I am comforting myself in the knowledge I still have my starboard foil, which is statistically the most important for a round-the-world race. The course is still very long. I continue, I’ll hang on in there!”

Seeking the strong westerly to ride into the Indian Ocean has been a struggle.

Ranking – 14:00 (GMT)
1. Charlie DALIN, APIVIA – 18972.9 nm DTF
2. Thomas RUYANT, LinkedOut – 78.53 nm DTL
3. Jean LE CAM, Yes We Cam! – 364.07 nm DTL
4. Kevin ESCOFFIER, PRB- 453.11 nm DTL
5. Boris HERRMANN – SEAEXPLORER-YACHT CLUB DE MONACO – 475.51 DTL
DTF – Distance to Finish; DTF – Distance to Lead

Race details – Boat types – Tracker – Ranking – YouTube

The Vendée Globe is the only sailing race round the world that’s solo, non-stop, and without assistance, and it was all systems go for the 9th edition on November 8. Beginning in 1989 with 13 entries, the start line in 2020 had 33 skippers taking off from Les Sables d’Olonne, France.

The development of the IMOCA Class toward foiling will see these boats hurl themselves around the world, teetering on carbon skates through inhospitable regions, chasing the record set in 2016-17 by Armel le Cléac’h of 74:03:35:46.

2020-21 Attrition
Nov. 16, 2020 – Nicolas TROUSSEL, CORUM L’EPARGNE – dismasted

Participation history:
1989-90: 13 boats at the start
1992-93: 15 boats
1996-97: 15 boats
2000-01: 24 boats
2004-05: 20 boats
2008-2009: 30 boats
2012-2013: 20 boats
2016-2017: 29 boats
2020-2021: 33 boats

2020-21 Entries
Fabrice AMEDEO: NEWREST – ART & FENÊTRES
Romain ATTANASIO: PURE – BEST WESTERN
Alexia BARRIER: TSE – 4MYPLANET
Yannick BESTAVEN: MAÎTRE COQ IV
Jérémie BEYOU: CHARAL
Arnaud BOISSIÈRES: LA MIE CÂLINE – ARTISANS ARTIPÔLE
Louis BURTON: BUREAU VALLÉE 2
Didac COSTA: ONE PLANET ONE OCEAN
Manuel COUSIN: GROUPE SÉTIN
Clarisse CREMER: BANQUE POPULAIRE X
Charlie DALIN: APIVIA
Samantha DAVIES: INITIATIVES-CŒUR
Sébastien DESTREMAU: MERCI
Benjamin DUTREUX: OMIA – WATER FAMILY
Kevin ESCOFFIER: PRB
Clément GIRAUD: COMPAGNIE DU LIT / JILITI
Pip HARE: MEDALLIA
Boris HERRMANN: SEA EXPLORER – YACHT CLUB DE MONACO
Ari HUUSELA: STARK
Isabelle JOSCHKE: MACSF
Jean LE CAM: YES WE CAM !
Stéphane LE DIRAISON: TIME FOR OCEANS
Miranda MERRON: CAMPAGNE DE FRANCE
Giancarlo PEDOTE: PRYSMIAN GROUP
Alan ROURA: LA FABRIQUE
Thomas RUYANT: LINKEDOUT
Damien SEGUIN: GROUPE APICIL
Kojiro SHIRAISHI: DMG MORI
Sébastien SIMON: ARKEA – PAPREC
Maxime SOREL: V AND B – MAYENNE
Alex THOMSON: HUGO BOSS
Armel TRIPON: L’OCCITANE EN PROVENCE
Nicolas TROUSSEL: CORUM L’ÉPARGNE

Source: Vendée Globe