Atlantic rescue for Vendée Globe skipper

The sailing world has praised veteran Vendée Globe skipper Jean Le Cam after his dramatic rescue of fellow competitor Kevin Escoffier whose IMOCA 60, PRB broke in two during the race.

- Katy Stickland

The 40-year-old, who had been lying in third place, had just minutes to abandon ship in 16ft waves before PRB sank around 840 miles south-west of Cape Town.

‘You know those images of shipwrecks? It was like that, but worse,’ explained Escoffier. ‘In four seconds the boat nosedived, the bow folded at 90°. I put my head down in the cockpit, a wave was coming. I had time to send one text [Mayday] before the wave fried the electronics. It was completely crazy. It folded the boat in two [forward of the mast bulkhead].’