Marc Guillemot announced this morning that there was some serious damage to Safran, concerning her keel after he noticed that it was loose in its box and had slid down a few centimetres. Read previous story here .

Later today, the Safran skipper called his shore team to inform them that he had lost the keel. He has filled the ballast tanks to lower the centre of gravity and is sailing under a small jib with three reefs in the mainsail.

The boat is now configured to sail without a keel and is continuing to Les Sables d’Olonne at reduced speed. By the end of the week, the weather should improve with essentially downwind sailing. At 15h30 (local time), Safran was sailing at 23° 49.36 W 42° 16.56 N making nine knots.