At 0830hrs French time this morning the Transat Jacques Vabre race office was informed of two more incidents in the Open 60 monohull fleet: Skipper Javier Sanso on Objectif 3 (ex-Gartmore) has dismasted, and skipper Emma Richards on Pindar has announced that they are abandoning the race with irreparable problems with navigation equipment.” Spaniard Javier Sanso sent in his fax at 0823hrs French time: “Broken mast?We’re OK, the hull is OK. I’ll let you know more details later.” Objectif 3 was five miles north-north-west of Ushant, and for the moment the skipper has not requested assistance nor announced that they are abandoning the race.

Then at 0840hrs French time, British skipper Emma Richards telephoned the race office to announce that they are abandoning the race as they have total navigational instrumentation failure. Pindar recorded 35 knots of wind in their area and the boat is about 25 miles from Camaret. Emma added that they are heading towards Brest.