Vendee Globe and Alex Thomson / Hugo Boss

[cherod]

jesus ,, all sounds rather fraught .

 

[ridgy]

And another one, Sébastien Simon also diverted.

 

[Ravi]

And another one, Sébastien Simon also diverted.

The 3 diverted boats are upwind of Escoffier's last position so, hopefully, they will be there within 2-4 hours. Conditions in the area look like remaining pretty foul until into tomorrow, when the front passes over. Hopefully, Escoffier is safe and his life raft is doing its job.

Strange that other boats were not sent earlier - especially Bestavan who was not much further away than Le Cam and upwind.

I shudder at the thought of being in conditions like that - let alone in a life raft,

 

[Buck Turgidson]

This will be a long night for everyone. Having done this type of search from the air many times I can tell you this is not fun. Best of luck to them all.

 

[Martin_J]

MarineTraffic showing three boats within a couple of miles already....

 

[Roberto]

Also, frightening to imagine foilers searching for a raft with an uncertain position at night, with those two blades protruding several meters on the sides..

Unconfirmed rumours JLC has lost sight of the raft.

 

[Bathdave]

after the initial news that JLC had diverted and arrived and seen the raft, it is a real concern 3 more boats have now been tasked ...

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Also, frightening to imagine foilers searching for a raft with an uncertain position at night, with those two blades protruding several meters on the sides..

Unconfirmed rumours JLC has lost sight of the raft.

Yes report that he had engine trouble and lost sight. One thing they have going for them is that spotting at night could well be easier than in the grey of daylight. Flares and lights critical.

 

[ridgy]

You'd hope that he would have a handheld VHF and sat phone in the raft with him and be able to relay his position.
If that is not the case then it must have been a very sudden event indeed.

 

[Roberto]

Maybe some of the boats to the rescue have this OSCAR system, hopefully it will help (?)

 

[Spyro]

Yes report that he had engine trouble and lost sight. One thing they have going for them is that spotting at night could well be easier than in the grey of daylight. Flares and lights critical.

You'd hope that he would have a handheld VHF and sat phone in the raft with him and be able to relay his position.
If that is not the case then it must have been a very sudden event indeed.

I would hope an epirb would be essential in the grab bag or hopefully the one he set off will still be with him.

 

[Hadenough]

Also, frightening to imagine foilers searching for a raft with an uncertain position at night, with those two blades protruding several meters on the sides..

Unconfirmed rumours JLC has lost sight of the raft.

I would assume that they would not be searching at foiling speed.

 

[Ravi]

Looking at the latest tracker .....
Looks like Bestavan is on the scene, Boris is about 15M away and Simone is 35M away.

The last of these is headed on course for the race, (rather than towards the Zone), so, hopefully, Escoffier has been recovered.
Herman is also on course, but the Zone is directly ahead of him.

The tracker shows the last update time from PRB as 14:00 - suggesting that the vessel is not transmitting.

Let's hope that Escoffier has been rescued by Le Cam, rather than Boris, so that he can recover with a glass from Le Cam's wine store.

 

[KevinT1]

MarineTraffic shows a more up to date picture around 5 or 10 minutes old - boats look like they are searching.

if you zoom in then you can see 2 boats in the same position - 1 shows as transmitting last at 14:20

 

[E39mad]

I would assume that they would not be searching at foiling speed.

Indeed and I think Roberto also meant this. He was alluding to the fact that both foils will be up and therefore be a danger.

 

[ridgy]

The last of these is headed on course for the race, (rather than towards the Zone), so, hopefully, Escoffier has been recovered.
Herman is also on course, but the Zone is directly ahead of him.

I thought maybe the course of Simon indicated that he was preparing to gybe towards the scene but hopefully you are right.

 

[Black Sheep]

The last of these is headed on course for the race, (rather than towards the Zone),

Hmmm. He was showing on a race course at the 2100 update (2030 positions) but Marine Traffic now shows him as heading towards PRB's last known position.

I think your optimism is misplaced at the moment, but hope it will be fulfilled in due course.

I agree that none of the trackers show a position for the casualty vessel after 1400, so AIS transmissions ceased then.

It is currently dark there. I wouldn't expect a recovery before sunrise at 0345, but would love to be surprised.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

I posted this on the other forum too. This looks like JLC did a creeping line search. Got eyes on him, picked him up and f'd off downwind and is now lying a hull beam on to the wind.

I do hope that's the case.

 

[cherod]

at least it is an early sunrise ,, long nite tho for all involved

 

[Ravi]

I would hope an epirb would be essential in the grab bag or hopefully the one he set off will still be with him.

Personal EPIRBs or PLBs (personal locator beacons) are small enough to carry around or clip onto your oilies. They are not cheap for your average Joe but would not even register as small change on an IMOCA budget.

To give you some idea of how affordable they are, (subject to correction), I think that the Clipper round the world race issue one to each of their many scores of crew.