French skipper Halvard Mabire informed Sylvie Viant, race director of the Transat Jacques Vabre, shortly after 14:00 UTC today that Campagne de France, the Class40 boat he skippers with Britain’s Miranda Merron, had sustained serious damage shortly after 13:00 UTC.

The boat started a brutal broach causing the bracket which holds the port rudder to break.

Campagne de France, then ranked 5th in the Class40 fleet, was sailing at more than 18 knots under two reefs and a heavy-air spinnaker. The conditions were unrelenting, with more than 20 knots of north-westerly wind, gusting up to 30 knots on a very choppy sea.

Mabire and Merron struggled for more than two hours to get the boat back in order and check the damage.

The breakage is depriving them of a rudder, making the boat unmanageable. A repair can only be made in the shelter of a port. Mabire and Merron should decide their destination in the next few hours.

=> Transat Jacques Vabre - avarie sérieuse a bord du Class40 Campagne de France