Dismasted

Francois Gabart and Michel Desjoyeaux onboard MACIF — the dream team in this year’s Transat Jacques Vabre — dismasted yesterday less than 150 miles from Salavador de Bahia, Brazil while leading the IMOCA class. The pair of Vendée Globe winners had been caught and passed by fellow VG champ Vincent Riou and PRB in the doldrums just two days before. Not ones to back down from a fight, the duo put the pedal to the metal and pulled out a 20-mile lead over PRB nearly overnight to solidify their position atop the IMOCA fleet. That's when the top two-thirds of their 90-ft rig came crashing down. This is a painful case of déjà vu for the two French superstars who also suffered a démâtage — dismasting — while fighting for the lead of the last Barcelona World Race two years ago.

“We were sailing on port tack with the full mainsail and big gennaker in 15-20 knots of wind with a little sea from behind us," says Gabart, "which was allowing us to surf a little. It was not unpleasant. I know we were pushing the boat . . . and this is not exactly the first time I have been pushing the boat since it was launched two years ago.

“After the Vendée Globe, we set a new mast which is lighter. We wanted to save some weight without sacrificing reliability. But this mast was always a bit more fragile in the harsh conditions of the Transat Jacques Vabre. I don’t want to second guess anything but it seems obvious.”

Open 60s dropping rigs — or keels, for that matter — are not exactly a new phenomenon and beginning this Vendée Globe cycle, all new IMOCA builds will have one-design rigs and keels in an effort to improve reliability and appease sponsors. Fortunately for everyone, both sailors on MACIF are safe and should arrive in Salavador de Bahia by the time you read this.

Elsewhere in the fleet, the top two Multi 50s have finished with Erwan La Roux and Yann Elies’ FenêtréA Cardinal holding off a race-long attack from defending champion Actual to win by just over five hours after 5,450 miles and two weeks of racing. PRB has assumed the lead in the IMOCA class while Maître Coq and Safran duke it out for second. In the Class 40s, GDF SUEZ looks to be escaping the doldrums with her lead intact after being seriously challenged when the fleet compressed when entering the doldrums.

- ronnie simpson