Arkéa Ultim Challenge-Brest, technical stop in Cape Town for Marchand

Anthony Marchand (Actual Ultim 3) will now make a technical stop in Cape Town after a collision yesterday, Tuesday. The impact seriously damaged the port foil of the Ultim multihull some 16 days after the start of the ARKÉA ULTIM CHALLENGE-Brest solo round-the-world multihull race,  

The skipper and Team Actual had initially chosen to continue racing after a first diagnosis and attempted repair. But at the end of last night, in view of the evolution of the situation, it has been decided that he will head for the nearest port, Cape Town (South Africa), some 400 miles away. He should reach the port during the day on Friday.

After repairs carried out by Marchand, as advised by Team Actual, the situation seemed stable but it worsened last night to the point that he and the team did not want to consider carrying on to cross the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Yves Le Blevec, director of Team Actual: "There are too many uncertainties to allow ourselves to cross the two most hostile oceans on the planet. The damaged foil has deteriorated in its housing and is loose within the float. The 420 kg part is impossible to immobilize, repeated impacts represent a real risk for the structural integrity of the float, and therefore also the entire boat."

The solution is remove this foil. And alone at sea, with the wind and swell, that is considered to be an impossible mission.

Team Actual is setting out to meet their skipper Marchand in Cape Town and carry out all the necessary repairs, expected to be within the allotted time of 24 hours, the minimum stopover duration imposed by the race regulations.

Anthony Marchand is currently moving slowly and is preparing to cross a ridge which is the transition between two weather systems, before reaching the South African port in around 48 hours.