L’Occitane en Provence, Clarisse Crémer’s boat, suffered a very significant crack in the hull on Wednesday evening, after four days of racing, forcing the sailor to divert from the Transat CIC to repair in the Azores. The original Ile-de-France resident gave her news in several video sequences where she appears very physically scarred, worried, but not discouraged.
“The second partition from the front is completely cracked on both sides. It’s moving and there are leaks and it really doesn’t look good, my boat is very soft,” explains the skipper, showing the extent of the damage.
In another sequence, Crémer confides his exhaustion, in tears, faced with the difficult repairs and the anxiety of a possible deterioration of the structure of his monohull. “I don’t know how I’m going to do it. I’m drowning in a glass of water,” she admits before showing the consolidations of her Imoca: “It’s like houses that collapse… I added wooden blocks so that the boat doesn’t collapse, it’s a dream.”
The sailor therefore remains in the race but is forced to move slowly to reach the Azores where she can repair. Before heading back towards New York, very far from the solid leader Yoann Richomme (Paprec Arkéa), in the lead with 59.5 miles ahead of Charlie Dalin (Macif Santé Prévoyance) and Samantha Davies (Initiatives Cœur) at 69.2 miles. The winner is expected in New York on Monday.
Also read: Clarisse Crémer on the Vendée Globe affair: “When you accuse an athlete of cheating, that’s about the worst that can happen to him”
Clarisse Crémer must arrive in the United States no later than May 20, the day the line closes, before departing for the return transatlantic from New York to Vendée on May 29, to ensure her qualification for the next Vendée Globe. “We’ll see what happens. What a story ! But a Vendée Globe project is really hard,” concludes the sailor, her voice faltering but determined to continue the fight.
