Vendée Globe

The skipper of Foncia has just announced to the race directors that he is returning to port with electrical problems after a leak in his ballast system

At 9h19 (French time) this morning, while around 200 nautical miles from Les Sables d'Olonne, Michel Desjoyeaux - the skipper of FONCIA - informed his team that he had decided to turn back to port.  A small leak in one of the ballast tanks caused an electrical problem making it impossible to start the engine to recharge his batteries.
The shore team is preparing for his return this evening to Les Sables d'Olonne, in order to carry out repairs and set off again, as quickly as possible.

"I had a small leak in the ballast system and underestimated its importance and the damage. This morning I started up the engine and after 40 minutes of charging, I could smell something burning.  The engine was taking a swimming lesson and didn't appreciate it. I have already done part of a round the world voyage with an engine which was extremely difficult to start, but if it wasn't going to work at all... I therefore took the decision to turn around. I hope to reach Les Sables d'Olonne by 2200h and that the sea, which is already high, will allow me to do that, so we can get to work on the repairs."

"The support team have been informed of the extent of the damage that I could find, but I haven't looked at everything inside. The team will be getting all the parts together that may have been damaged. At best we'll set sail again on tomorrow morning's tide, but a thorough diagnosis is necessary, which can't be carried out in the current conditions."

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