“For them, these are overwhelming moments”: images of the rescues of skippers Armel Le Cléac’h and Francis Joyon in the middle of the Route du Rhum

He is standing, leaning against the hull of his maxi-trimaran. When Armel Le Cléac'h saw the crew of a Panamanian freighter, he had just spent more than 10 hours almost motionless in the middle of the Atlantic. The enormous container ship is preparing to welcome the sailor. He leaves behind his boat with its 35 meter mast towards the bottom.

Above all, he leaves behind his ambitions and years of work: "They are inevitably disappointed. The race stops, they remain competitors. With a snap of the fingers, the race stops. For them, these are overwhelming moments. Indeed, they are walking in reverse of their boat with, one can imagine, a lot of equipment which has fallen. It is not at all natural. Afterwards, they organize themselves as best as possible", explains Pierre Hays, deputy director of the race.

13 abandonments out of 115 boats, Tom Laperche still in the lead

Francis Joyon, too, returns to land aboard a cargo ship. The group souvenir photo is not what this solitary sailor had imagined. In the Celtic Sea, a flare and a rescue in the middle of the night, more delicate. He waited eight hours inside his overturned boat. The septuagenarian, like other experienced sailors, is prepared for such situations.

Thirteen abandonments out of 115 boats, nothing exceptional. These days, the depression in the Azores has taken a toll on the skippers still in the race. "I'm burst. Impossible to sleep", testifies, for example, from his cabin Maxime Sorel, skipper Vaincre la Mucoviscidose. For many, the road is still long, far behind leader Tom Laperche.