Brazilian military boat heads to aid of Maxi80 Prince de Bretagne

A Brazilian military boat, the Guaratuba (46 metres long and with all the necessary equipment towing) has just left the Bay of All Saints in Salvador de Bahia to go and meet the dismasted Maxi80 Prince de Bretagne. The Guaratuba should arrive in the area within 5 hours.

The dismasting of Maxi80 Prince of Brittany occurred today (Wednesday) at 18:15 (UTC), 93 miles from the finish of the Transat Jacques Vabre in Salvador de Bahia.  Prince de Bretagne was sailing off Palame, in north-east Brazil near the end of the 4,350-mile race from Le Havre in Normandy, France.

The dismasting, 18 miles from the coast, was caused by a ruptured backstay. Lionel Lemonchois and Bernard Stamm report no apparent cause as they were sailing on a calm sea in about 15 knots of wind. The mast fell gently, causing neither injury nor breakage, before splitting in two. The two sailors were able to recover everything (boom, spar etc.). They are currently trying to curb the drift of the boat, the direction of the easterly tradewind is however still causing it to drift at 0.9 knots. Conditions in the area: 12 knots of wind and less than one-metre waves.

The two sailors from Prince de Bretagne, who have no engine power following the failure of their generator a few days ago, are currently adrift.