After sailing at the head of the fleet for over a month, Loïck Peyron has dismasted. The incident occurred shortly after 14:00 today (10 December), whilst Gitana Eighty was in third position. Loïck was down below when the mast fell.

Currently at 49°36 south and 52°47 east, the monohull is making headway at a reduced pace. Loïck Peyron, in collaboration with his shore crew, is considering what approach they will take. As things stand the remaining boom should enable him to make a jury rig, but the direction to take in order to make port still has to be decided.

Loïck Peyron went over the circumstances of his dismasting: “There was 30 knots of breeze and Gitana Eighty was under one reef mainsail and solent. There was no reason for the boat to be under pressure and everything was going very well aboard when the mast fell violently without any warning. I was down below when I heard a massive bang and when I went up on deck I noticed that I no longer had a mast. I still have the boom and we’re currently reflecting on how to proceed.”