U.S.-Flagged Boxship Rescues Skipper of Capsized Racing Yacht
The high-octane Route du Rhum singlehanded yacht race is off to a high-risk start, and merchant shipping has been providing rescue assistance. On Monday, a Maersk container ship rescued the skipper of a racing yacht that capsized off Ireland; a second yacht's skipper is currently awaiting rescue after capsizing Tuesday off the Azores. Both of the affected yachts are purebred racing trimarans, with abundant sail area and minimal displacement.
On Monday afternoon, well-known French offshore racing skipper Francis Joyon was operating the "vintage" trimaran Océans at a position off Ireland's southwestern coast, en route from Saint-Malo to Guadeloupe. Joyon was in the lead for his class when his vessel suffered a capsizing. He was uninjured and called for a rescue, and CROSS Jobourg and HM Coastguard helped coordinate a response. The U.S.-flagged boxship Maersk Columbus arrived shortly, and Joyon was aboard and safe by about 2300 hours. The boxship will deliver him to Ireland, according to the race's organizers.
Océans is a 60-foot ORMA class trimaran, a design built for speed. These vessels were laid down in the 1990s and 2000s with an eye to light weight and maximum power, and some hulls leveraged novel, then-new advancements in high tech materials. In the pounding environment of offshore racing, they developed a reputation for casualties. In the 2002 season of the Route du Rhum, 24 years ago, seven of these trimarans sustained serious structural damage and five capsized, according to Yachting World.
Joyon was not the only skipper to suffer a capsizing in the race this week. The Route du Rhum organizers reported Tuesday night that the Ocean 50 trimaran Elvest had capsized at a position about 400 miles to the north of the Azores. Skipper Matthieu Perraut is unhurt and remains with the vessel to await rescue.
The comparatively high rate of capsizings is not new. Last year, during the marquee Transat Jacques Vabre ocean race, three Ocean 50 trimarans capsized on the first night. The design's operators are well aware that the light, high-speed yachts can be pushed beyond the limits of their stability if there is enough wind.
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"It’s easy to put the foot right down hard on the accelerator, but capsizing is the problem if you push too hard," Ocean 50 skipper Erwan Le Roux told Yachting World in 2025, just days before his vessel Koesio capsized.
Top image courtesy VesselFinder
