Route du rhum: Fabrice Amedeo’s boat on fire, skipper safe and sound

The 12th edition of the famous solo transatlantic race continues to wreak havoc six days after leaving Saint-Malo. Early in the day en route to Cascais in Portugal, an explosion occurred on board the Imoca (18m monohull) Nexans – Art & Fenêtres of Fabrice Amedeo, causing fire damage claimed the previous day. The Mayenne skipper abandoned his ship, which sank off the coast of Portugal.

“Rescue work began immediately,” the event’s website says. At the warning of the race management, the marine rescue services of Portugal contacted the ships that were in the area of ​​​​the accident. The nearby cargo ship M/V MAERSK BRIDA diverted and the rescue operation was successful at 14:21 UTC (15:21) this afternoon. Fabrice is safe aboard the freighter, unharmed. It will be unloaded in the port city of Ponta Delgada, located on the southern coast of the island of Sao Miguel, in the Azores archipelago. »

The cause of the fire was one of the ballast tanks (a large capacity water tank designed to be filled or drained with sea water to optimize starboard sailing). liters of salt water in the cabin, which led to the flooding of the batteries and the failure of the electric pump and the release of hydrogen.

On Sunday morning, Fabrice Amedeo (44), for whom this is his 4th participation, already noticed the rupture of this ballast when the boat was sailing in the heart of the Azores, with especially dangerous conditions at the moment, which caused numerous damage to competitors. Its mainsail was also torn, and the navigator was heading for the Portuguese coast to repair it and possibly get back on the road towards Guadeloupe.