Breaking news from the Vendee Globe: Bernard Stamm has informed his shore crew he has hit an unidentified floating object, which ripped off his port side hydrogenerator. Because of previous energy-related issues, there is not enough fuel stocked on board.
Bernard therefore explained his team he was shutting down all energy-consuming devices to save the little energy he had left for the autopilot. Since then, the Cheminées Poujoulat Sailing Team has not heard from the yacht. He was 1060 miles away from Cape Horn at 7.30AM (French time). We are currently studying all available solutions, like finding a sheltered area where Bernard could consider getting fuel as the yacht safety is jeopardized.
UPDATE:
The International Jury that had previously disqualified Swiss sailor Bernard Stamm for accepting outside assistance and tying up to a Russian research vessel agreed to reopen the case after receiving the testimony of the skipper of the Russian ship. That's the good news.
Stamm has turned off all but the most essential electronics to reserve as much power as possible. His team are working on a way to deliver fuel to the skipper to allow him to finish the race, which is permissible under the rules as his boat's safety is in jeopardy without enough electricity to power his systems.
Possible shelters seem to be located after the Cape Horn rounding. Weather conditions are tough with changing winds, rough sea and cold temperatures. Ice has also been detected in the area. He was a little bit more than 1,000 miles away from the Horn when it happened. The weather is bad and it’s a very tricky situation. So they're working on several possibilities to find a shelter or get additional fuel. Not getting weather data is stressful, Bernard has no way to receive weather data any more.
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