Skipper Romain Pilliard deplores "major damage" during a collision with a competing boat after the start of the Route du Rhum

Skipper Romain Pilliard says he is "very sad" and deplores "major damage" after a collision with a competitor a few hours after the start of the Route du Rhum, Sunday November 1st. His trimaran Use it Again was hit by the Imoca Initiatives-Cœur of 25-year-old sailor Violette Dorange. “I had a very good start,” assured the skipper on Monday on franceinfo. “I was in the match, everything was going well when the accident happened,” he continues, deploring a “big disappointment”.

Romain Pilliard's multihull and Violette Dorange's monohull collided around 3:15 p.m., two hours after the gun was fired in mild conditions off the coast of Saint-Malo. He details the circumstances of the accident: "I was maneuvering, quite classic on our boats, almost at a standstill, to lower a sail and I was hit from behind by Violette Dorange. I think she didn't see me", explains Romain Pilliard. Very damaged, his boat is currently being examined by experts, according to him. “There are procedures underway regarding racing and insurance,” he explains.

“We are analyzing all possible solutions to see if we can repair it in a few days, so that I can go back to sea and join my son [Titouan Pilliard], who is also in the race,” he explains. “We were happy to find ourselves in Guadeloupe,” he regrets. “But I am still officially in the race, everything is perhaps not over,” hopes Romain Pilliard.