Three Racing Trimarans Capsize in One Night on Transatlantic Race

 

The Transat Café l'Or ocean race got off to a rough start last weekend with the capsizings of no less than three high-spec Ocean Fifty racing trimarans, all within hours of each other. The incidents took nearly one-third of the entrants in the class out of the race, which was the fifth and last stretch of this year's Ocean Fifty season. 

The race got off to a swift start from Le Havre, but conditions worsened as the teams headed for Guernsey.

The Ocean Fifty trimaran Lazare x Hellio capsized within six hours of leaving the harbor. At 2227 hours Sunday night, the rescue coordination center CROSS Jobourg received a distress signal from the sailboat's EPIRB. In winds of up to 30 knots, the vessel had gone over. 

"We were close-hauled, the sea was unpleasant but not huge. It became very rough as we passed through the Alderney Race. That's when we capsized," skipper Tanguy Le Turquais told race organizers. 

Le Turquais speculated that the boat's port side pontoon may have hit something and ruptured, resulting in flooding and then an unexpected capsizing towards the bow (pitch-poling). "Part of the port float had torn off, which is what clearly caused the boat to capsize," he said. 

At 0225 the next morning, the competing boat Koesio was navigating in highly variable wind conditions of Guernsey when it was hit by a gust of about 40 knots. The skippers eased the sheets on the mainsail, but the sudden force of the wind was still enough to knock the boat over. The crew's initial instinct was to stay with their vessel to enable salvage, but the conditions were too dangerous. "The boat was sliding at nearly three knots towards Guernsey. The [CROSS Jobourg] called us back, telling us we had to leave. It was difficult, but it was the right decision," said skipper Erwan Le Roux. 

At 0505, trimaran Inter Invest went over in the same way just off Aber Wrac'h, Finistere.

In all three cases, the crews were airlifted to safety with no injuries reported. Lazare x Hellio has been towed into port at Cherbourg for evaluation, and Inter Invest has been taken successfully in tow. 

Koesio encountered a less desirable fate. The team sought to have the capsized boat towed before it drifted ashore, but this was not successful. The trimaran washed up on a beach at Guernsey and landed high and dry on the sand, still upside down. Images taken by skipper Erwan le Roux (top) show crews attempting to move it off the beach using heavy equipment. 

The Transat Café l'Or takes its name from the "coffee route" from Le Havre to South America. The courses are different for every vessel class, accounting for varying speed capabilities of each vessel design. 

The Ocean Fifty class is a trimaran design, non-foiling and restricted by class rules to ensure financial accessibility for smaller enterprises and corporations. The vessels are typically rebuilt and reused over multiple seasons, some for more than 10 years running.