Vendee rescue underway
I was meeting up with old sailing friends yesterday at our 3Com starboard watch annual reunion, so missed the news that Yann Elies had broken his femur.
Marc Guillemot, who diverted course, has taken up station not far from Elies's yacht. Elies, meanwhile has managed to get some drink, a little food and some pain killers inside him and has been able to fashion makeshift bed and get some sleep. This is important because he must wait now for the arrival of the Australian frigate, HMAS Arunta, the rescue ship, which is due to reach them on Saturday afternoon.
Sam Davies on Roxy is also heading towards the scene. The yachts are there for moral support as much as anything. They will not try to rescue Elies. It's too dangerous for yachts to run alongside each other in pitching seas as their masts would most likely lock together.
The injury brings back memories of sailing in the southern ocean on 3Com when we had to rendezvous with another yacht, to pass over morphine for a badly injured crewman on Time and Tide. We passed the medication over on a line. In that case, both the yachts were fully crewed. In single-handed sailing there are fewer options.
But the good news for Elies is that a rescue is on its way and he is tucked up and reasonably warm. No-one should be in any doubt, however, of the seriousness of a bad injury in such an isolated place. Sam Davies herself blacked out briefly yesterday when she injured her arm. Fortunately she suffered no more than bad bruising.
Had Elies been left exposed or unconscious on the deck of his yacht he would have been in much bigger trouble. As it is, the rescue, so far, is going smoothly. It just takes time because of the distances involved.
Meanwhile Michel Desjoyeaux has been extending his lead with Roland Jourdain not far behind him, but these two have moved more than 100 miles ahead of third-placed Sebastien Josse. Jean-Pierre Dick has completed a rudder repair to Paprec-Virbac II and is heading south east to rejoin the fleet, having lost more than 600 miles since the breakage.
Guillemot says he will stay with Elies "as long as it takes." He says:
"The race was yesterday. Now we've moved on to something else. I had a similar experience a few years ago. I'm just trying to talk to him, to reassure him. The subject doesn't matter. He knows he can rely on me. It's more of a psychological help than a physical one, but that's important, because in general it's the head that looks after the rest of the body. That will help him, while he awaits the arrival of the rescue team."
Marc Guillemot, who diverted course, has taken up station not far from Elies's yacht. Elies, meanwhile has managed to get some drink, a little food and some pain killers inside him and has been able to fashion makeshift bed and get some sleep. This is important because he must wait now for the arrival of the Australian frigate, HMAS Arunta, the rescue ship, which is due to reach them on Saturday afternoon.
Sam Davies on Roxy is also heading towards the scene. The yachts are there for moral support as much as anything. They will not try to rescue Elies. It's too dangerous for yachts to run alongside each other in pitching seas as their masts would most likely lock together.
The injury brings back memories of sailing in the southern ocean on 3Com when we had to rendezvous with another yacht, to pass over morphine for a badly injured crewman on Time and Tide. We passed the medication over on a line. In that case, both the yachts were fully crewed. In single-handed sailing there are fewer options.
But the good news for Elies is that a rescue is on its way and he is tucked up and reasonably warm. No-one should be in any doubt, however, of the seriousness of a bad injury in such an isolated place. Sam Davies herself blacked out briefly yesterday when she injured her arm. Fortunately she suffered no more than bad bruising.
Had Elies been left exposed or unconscious on the deck of his yacht he would have been in much bigger trouble. As it is, the rescue, so far, is going smoothly. It just takes time because of the distances involved.
Meanwhile Michel Desjoyeaux has been extending his lead with Roland Jourdain not far behind him, but these two have moved more than 100 miles ahead of third-placed Sebastien Josse. Jean-Pierre Dick has completed a rudder repair to Paprec-Virbac II and is heading south east to rejoin the fleet, having lost more than 600 miles since the breakage.
Guillemot says he will stay with Elies "as long as it takes." He says:
"The race was yesterday. Now we've moved on to something else. I had a similar experience a few years ago. I'm just trying to talk to him, to reassure him. The subject doesn't matter. He knows he can rely on me. It's more of a psychological help than a physical one, but that's important, because in general it's the head that looks after the rest of the body. That will help him, while he awaits the arrival of the rescue team."
Labels: 3Com, HMAS Arunta, Jean-Pierre Dick, Marc Guillemot, Paprec-Virbac 2, Roxy, Sam Davies, Sebastien Josse, Time and Tide, Yann Elies
posted by Richard Donkin at
3:03 PM
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