
Contacted by his shore crew, Lionel Lemonchois went over the circumstances of the damage which was incurred by Gitana 13 yesterday afternoon:
“As we were heading towards the front, which we knew was set to be rather venomous, the wind was gradually picking up. The crew, who had fully anticipated this strengthening wind, had perfectly adapted the sail area so that Gitana 13 would suffer as little as possible. We had up to 55 knots at the strongest part of the system. However, it was the seas more than the strength of the wind which caused us problems. They continued to build until the waves reached 6 to 7 metres. As we were sailing against the current, the seas were abrupt and fairly breaking. One of the waves was stronger than the others and Gitana 13 dropped down heavily. It was one impact too much!” conceded the skipper of Gitana 13, before going on to say: “It was a dark night, the seas were still very big and there was nothing more we could do. As a result we’d decided to heave to for the night, in order to be able to inspect the damage at daybreak. It consists of a crack spanning over 60 cm on the forward section of the starboard beam. However, to the best of our knowledge it isn’t detrimental to the boat’s structure. However, we’re continuing investigations together with the help of Gitana Team’s shore crew.” Read More