Race leader disaster

The carnage continues in the Route du Rhum

Sailing under gennaker with one reef in the mainsail, the Swiss skipper leading the fleet in the Route du Rhum capsized last light at 22.21 GMT, 734 miles from the finish line in Guadeloupe.

Ravussin was in the interior of the boat when a fierce squall lifted the boat. The leeward bow crashed into a bigger wave than the others. Ravussin tried to ease the sheets and let go of the sails, but in vain the boat flipped over.

“I had less than 15 knots of wind, under gennaker and one reef when I went to have a rest. I was woken when I felt the boat accelerate in a squall. I pulled out the gennaker sheet which I had lead down below, but it was too late. The floats had already ploughed in. With the inertia of the mast, everything was going very quickly. The boat capsized stern over bow. As this moment I was on the point of getting out of the cockpit and I suddenly found myself with my head under water but protected by the hood.

"In the interior of the boat, everything is in a jumble. I immediately set my batteries on to charge for my Iridium telephone (…) It’s really sad and I am thinking about all those who have supported and helped me in this adventure. When everything is reduced to nothingness you have to ask yourself if you would do the same thing tomorrow”.

TechnoMarine-Match TV (originally Alain Gautier's Brocéliande and later Foncia), lost its starboard foil a few days earlier, which enabled the leeward float (the float on pressure) to lift higher, and not dive in the waves.

Stève Ravussin is safe and sound onboard his boat. His shore crew is currently organising a rescue operation for him and his boat.

Géant is now leading the three remaining 60-foot trimarans, 1401 miles to go to the finish. Michel Desjoyeaux was not happy to hear the sad news this morning, “The stress is just as high as the first week. We know perfectly well that with these boats and 500 square metre sail cloth, anything is possible.“

Lalou Roucayrol on Banque Populaire has suffered long frustrating days stuck in the anticyclone, but has finally almost reached the trade winds. He was exactly 1000 miles behind Géant at 0700 GMT.

Ellen MacArthur is once again widening the gap between Kingfisher and Ecover. At 0700 GMT she was 63 miles in front, 905 miles from the finish, and the closest boat to the finish line!

During the night Mike Golding’s second and last spinnaker (first one ripped) got twisted up and Golding will have to climb the top of the mast during the day to try and recuperate it. Mike Golding will be seriously handicapped if he cannot recuperate his spinnaker.

Joé Seeten on Arcelor-Dunquerque is still third of the IMOCA monohulls, Roland Jourdain on Sill is 109 miles behind.

Australian Nick Moloney on Ashfield Healthcare is still leading the 50-foot monohull fleet with Luc Coquelin on Florys 77 miles behind.

Positions 20/11/02 07:00:00 GMT
Pos	Boat name	Skipper	Lat	Long	Dist	SOG	COG
60ft tris
1	Géant	Michel Desjoyeaux	26 00.00' N	39 33.00' W	1401.3	18.2	288
2	Banque Populaire	Lalou Roucayrol	30 12.32' N	40 00.80' W	1500.9	2.6	236
3	Biscuits La Trinitaine - Ethypharm	Marc Guillemot	25 29.72' N	35 02.20' W	1629.3	18.1	201
ABD	Fujifilm	Loick Peyron
ABD	Banque Covefi	Bertrand deBroc
ABD	Sergio Tacchini	Karine Fauconnier
ABD	Sopra Group	Philippe Monnet
ABD	Bayer CropSciences	Frederic Le Peutrec
ABD	Belgacom	Jean-Luc Nélias
ABD	Foncia	Alain Gautier
ABD	Groupama	Franck Cammas
ABD	Rexona Men	Yvan Bourgnon
ABD	Sodebo	Thomas Coville
ABD	TIM	Giovanni Soldini
ABD	TechnoMarine	Steve Ravussin
ABD	Gitana X	Lionel Lemonchois
ABD	Eure&Loir-Lorénove	Francis Joyon
ABD	Bonduelle	Jean Le Cam
Open 60s
1	Kingfisher	Ellen McArthur	24 07.80' N	48 54.32' W	905.4	13.6	239
2	Ecover	Mike Golding	24 12.20' N	47 36.04' W	968.3	10.1	248
3	Arcelor-Dunkerque	Joé Seten	25 03.56' N	39 22.28' W	1397.5	13.2	240
4	Sill	Roland Jourdain	24 38.56' N	37 06.00' W	1507.3	12.1	267
5	L'Heautontimoroumenos	Antoine Koch	24 58.08' N	31 26.08' W	1707.2	12.6	272
6	60ème Sud	Didier Munduteguy	27 37.44' N	33 10.16' W	1762.6	4.8	197
7	Garnier Belgium	Patrick De Radiguès	21 46.96' N	30 59.52' W	1792.4	12.4	270
8	Millimages-Gédéon	Patrick Favre	29 40.00' N	29 31.00' W	1979.9	6.2	231
9	Un Univers de Services	Miranda Merron	24 34.68' N	27 44.76' W	1992.5	7.5	223
10	Tir Groupé-Montres Yéma	Mike Birch	27 13.08' N	27 40.88' W	2037.8	7.2	262
11	Dinan Pays d'Entreprises	Frédéric Lescot	29 25.96' N	26 26.00' W	2134	8.1	236
12	Ciments St Laurent-Ocean	Georges Leblanc	29 43.48' N	24 47.28' W	2221.5	7.6	232
13	Leasecom	Elie Canivenc	42 35.84' N	8 46.28' W	3168.3	0	0
ABD	Virbac	Jean Pierre Dick
ABD	VMI	Sébastien Josse
ABD	La Rage de Vivre	Loïck Pochet
ABD	Temenos	Dominique Wavre
Class 1 monos
1	Ville de Dinard	Bruno Reibel	35 53.96' N	25 17.68' W	2314.4	7	214
ABD	Un Autre Regard Ensemble pour l'UNHCR	Nicolas  Peitrequin
Class 2 monos
1	Ashfield Healthcare	Nick Moloney	27 44.48' N	32 07.40' W	1817.8	8.2	235
2	Florys	Luc Coquelin	28 48.08' N	30 58.76' W	1894.9	8.8	228
3	Branec III	Roger Langevin	30 22.56' N	30 58.96' W	1926.1	8.6	215
4	Mille Visages	Hervé Vachée	29 44.44' N	30 04.20' W	1957.7	6.9	175
5	Laiterie St Malo	Clément Surtel	30 08.12' N	28 02.84' W	2061.4	8	227
6	Adecco Etoile Horizon	Bob Escoffier	30 57.44' N	19 36.76' W	2499.2	7.8	233
ABD	Apic A3S	Christophe Huchet
ABD	République Dominicaine	Yannick Bestaven
ABD	Défi Vendéen	J. F. Durand
Class 3 monos
1	Storagetek	Regis Guillemot	30 49.86' N	31 13.44' W	1916.8	7.9	226
2	Passion Entreprendre	Jérôme Thiriez	32 25.40' N	26 15.84' W	2195.1	7.6	226
3	Grain de Soleil	Etienne Svilarich	37 10.40' N	25 47.96' W	2322.6	7.2	196
4	Fantasy-Forest	Alain Grinda	46 33.72' N	4 29.28' W	3403.5	4.4	149
ABD	Hellomoto	Conrad Humphreys
Class 2 multis
1	Crepes Whaou!	F. Y. Escofier	25 10.04' N	41 24.92' W	1306.4	10.2	246
2	Yachting-casino.com	Anne Cazeneuve	27 09.54' N	36 18.30' W	1595.7	9.1	211
3	Archipel Guadeloupe	Claude Thelier	27 27.96' N	30 30.36' W	1895.3	6.5	267
4	Vaincre la mucoviscidose	Hervé Cleris	26 55.26' N	29 42.48' W	1906.2	11	253
5	Lehning-Lapeyre-Blanchet-Gourbeyre	P.Y. Guennec	31 00.64' N	25 12.76' W	2226.6	6.6	232
ABD	E-Sat Tri Sélectif	Pascal Quintin
ABD	Groupe France Epargne	Patrick Morvan
ABD	Chaleur Fioul Elan	Didier Levillain