![]() We were going to go round the world together in two years time. My raft is drifting downwind of the boat which is fully on fire. The waves bring me dangerously close to it. I manage to get on board without letting go… I say to myself “if you want to live you have a few seconds to find the knife and cut”. The boat, which… is still going forwards pushed by rough seas, pulls it and it fills with water. “Normally the end that holds the liferaft to the boat is supposed to let go. I manage to push the life raft into the water and jump. “When I hang up, I am then at the back of the boat ready to trigger my survival: a torrent of flame comes out of the cabin and the coachroof. I understand that I will have to evacuate. Seawater spray sounds like the sound of water hitting a saucepan. The smoke is not white like yesterday but yellow. I hit the fire extinguisher but nothing happens. My Grab bag (survival bag) had remained in the cockpit. I grope my way back into the cabin and manage to retrieve my TPS. Shortly after 1230 pm more new smoke on board. “Again 2h30 of siesta then 7 hours on the helm. I completely dry the boat and prepare myself for a difficult passage… “I meet James Harayda, the skipper of Gentoo who had come to the area to help me. ![]() Photo: Fabrice Amedeo / Nexans – Art et Fenêtres I decide to resume my passage to Cascais.Īn image sent by Fabrice Amedeo shortly after radioing for help. I alert the race direction who asks a competitor in IMOCA to divert to assist me if necessary. I use the extinguisher, I put on my TPS (survival suit). “Sunday afternoon: big smoke on board the boat. I decide, in consultation with my team, to proceed cautiously towards Cascais. I have no more electricity: no more autopilot, no more computer, no more electronics. “At that moment, the batteries are immediately affected by the water and failed and I had a complete blackout on board. I stop to be safe and start to empty everything. Suddenly, I realise that my ballast has exploded on a wave and that I have several hundred litres of water in the boat. The boat is flying hard in the squalls and the sea is heavy. “Sunday morning: everything is fine on board and I’m having a great race. He was rescued by a nearby freighter M/V Maersk Brida.Īmedeo, a former journalist turned ocean racer, gave an extraordinary description of the events leading up to his rescue: Amedeo was forced to abandon his IMOCA 60 Nexans – Art et Fenêtres after it literally exploded into fire mid-ocean. ![]() Most dramatic was Fabrice Amedeo’s mid-ocean rescue. It has been another intense 24 hours in the Route du Rhum 2022, with two dramatic mid-ocean rescues, as well as multiple other abandonments as the 138-boat fleet continues to contend with punishing transatlantic conditions. ![]()
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