The French professional sailor Armel Le Cléac'h had gone as one of the favorites in the transatlantic regatta "Route du Rhum". On Sunday, the award-winning solo sailor started in his trimaran "Banque Populaire IX" in Saint-Malo, France. On Tuesday, however, his team reported: Le Cléac'h capsized with his boat - in gusts with a wind force of up to 35 knots and five-meter-high waves.
The skipper was able to send an emergency signal, it said in a message from the regatta organizer. The 41-year-old was safe and now waiting inside the damaged boat. He has all his security and emergency equipment with him and is about 320 nautical miles away from Punta Delgada in Portugal on rescue.
That came a little later in the form of a fishing boat. Le Cléac'h is now on its way to Spain, said the regatta organizer on Twitter. It will now be examined how you can also bring back the boat.
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Armel a pu être secouru vers 21h30 (heure française) par un navire de pêche arrivé sur zone de début de soirée. Il se trouve actuellement à son bord et fait route vers l'Espagne. Le Team Banque Populaire étudie désormais toutes les solutions pour récupérer le bateau. pic.twitter.com/1ky8txzYPq
A heavy storm makes the sailing race difficult for the other regatta participants. In total, 123 boats had made their way to Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe. According to the Reuters news agency, nearly 50 of them are now seeking either protection on the French and Spanish coasts - or are already on their way back to France with technical problems.
For Germany, Boris Herrmann ("Malizia 2 - Yacht Club de Monaco") and Arnt Bruhns ("Iskareen") are in the running (you can find a list of all participating skippers here).