The verdict lands as the boats reach Guadeloupe
It took the best part of ten days. While the Route du Rhum fleet was still pouring into Pointe-à-Pitre, the international jury finally ruled on the crash that marred the opening afternoon off Brittany, and it went against Violette Dorange.
The 25-year-old’s Imoca, Initiatives Coeur, hit Romain Pilliard’s trimaran Use It Again roughly two hours after the start. Both camps lodged protests. The jury, which sits under the French sailing federation, has now decided that Dorange was the overtaking boat and failed to keep clear of the boat she was overtaking, as the international collision regulations at sea require.
The wording, reported by AFP, is blunt. Initiatives Coeur “was not keeping a proper visual and auditory lookout” for the conditions, and the jury found there was no reasonable manoeuvre Use It Again could have made to avoid being hit.
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Two very different races after the impact
The collision sent both skippers back to land, but only one of them got back out. Dorange headed for repairs and hoped to restart from Lorient in time to finish. The damage was worse than expected and she had to withdraw for good.
Pilliard was luckier. Six days after the incident, with the jury still silent, he announced he would set off again.
The ruling closes the file on the opening-day crash. It does not change much on the water, where the big prizes are already decided.
Records everywhere else
Tom Laperche took line honours in the Ultim class at the weekend with a new race record, on his first attempt. Overnight, Basile Bourgnon won the Ocean Fifty category and Corentin Horeau the Imoca class, less than two minutes apart at the finish. Horeau’s time of 9 days, 17 hours and 12 minutes smashed the previous Imoca mark of 11 days, 17 hours and 36 minutes set by Thomas Ruyant in 2022.
Thibaut Vauchel-Camus took second in Ocean Fifty early this afternoon, 7 hours and 32 minutes behind Bourgnon.
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