"Today brings yet more sad news about PRB dismasting It really is not fair. Vincent does not deserve this after saving Jean. I am so sad for the two of them. On board Roxy, things have been "challenging" me all day. First of all the Fleet 77 stopped working. I chased that down to a faulty Voltage converter which has suffered from the extreme conditions by succumbing to condensation inside it (I discovered on dismantling it). I tried to dry it out, but no luck yet. It is in the engine box as a final attempt. As I packed away my electricians tools, I went on deck for a check around, as the wind is dropping. I discovered the first reef line badly chaffed through. So then I put on my "monkey" equipment, with a "riggers" hat on and scrambled out to the end of the boom to fix the rope. In fact, this one is a temporary repair in the form of a bowline to get us into the Atlantic where I can do something more "neat"! I didn't want to spend too much time out on the end of the boom, as although the wind is not too strong, there is a nasty swell which was flinging us around a lot. Just as I had put away my rigging kit, as we got to the end of a surf there was a loud bang, and the boom fired into the air. The vang cable had broken neatly in two. I was very lucky it hadn't happened ten minutes earlier when I was on the end of the boom. So, I got the rigging kit back out, and luckily I have a spare vang cable pre-made, so I got to replacing it. The spare is not as solid as the original, so once the vang was back in place I settled into being a rigger for the afternoon and preparing a better cable so I have another spare ready to go on. I will put this new one on in the Atlantic."
Sam Davies (Roxy) in her daily message
 

The Chilean patrol vessel LSG Alacalufe reached the two skippers at 23h00 local time (2h00 GMT). Under tow, PRB is due to arrive in Puerto Williams at around 8h45 (GMT) with the two skippers aboard. Both are safe and sound and neither was injured when the boat was dismasted.
 

"Huge relief at hearing the news of Jean Le Cam's rescue. The whole episode was 200 miles east of where we capsized in 1990, so that brought back many scary memories, of the dark, the cold, the water, inside the boat. I think that Jean Le Cam showed incredible courage, courage beyond description, to depart the bow compartment. Think of it, he must have had to go down into the cold water, the survival suit wanting to buoy him upward, against the deck, sails in the water, or ropes or stays, could trap him, or tangle him, or hook onto him, he would have had to go down deeper to get past the lifelines and outside the perimeter of the boat to then get back to the stern to hopefully climb on the bottom and hold onto a rudder. He really had no idea what he would find then. He had heard Vincent, but... Stunning courage, no words to describe... And Vincent, to make 3 passes and on the fourth push it so close to save his friend that he damages his own boat, deck spreader against the keelfin, to do anything for a friend, what skill, what courage he showed himself. Speechless here...."

Jean Pierre Dick, talking to his shore team: «All is well today. The wind is not exceeding 15 knots, but it's raining heavily. Only 1250 miles left to go. It's wash day on Paprec-Virbac 2. The weather is calm, so I'm taking advantage to get the bucket and sponge out. She'll be nicer like that and it keeps me busy. This evening some reading - an adventure story, Shantaram by G E Roberts, which is set in India and then time for a sleep. I'm trying to recover from the race, which was very tiring. Stronger winds are forecast for 7th and 8th and gales for the 9th. I've just gybed to head southwards, where the winds will be lighter. It's a huge tropical low, which is quite rare in these latitudes. These winds should stay with us until we reach Tauranga, on 11th or 12th January. »
 

Vincent Riou and Jean Le Cam on board PRB have just rounded the Horn in thirty knots of wind. They are now 70 miles from the rendezvous with Isabelle Autissier at the entrance to the Beagle Channel.
 

"On board BTP it is a ‘bricolage’ day, which is French for  'DIY', as the weather is quite mild. It’s the last quiet day till the Horn and the first since the south of Australia. Yesterday the pilot ram tripped out in a squall, so I was in the process of checking the steering system and changing over rams when I heard some noises in the port rudder area. On a good look around I found a small crack in the transom, so I am now doing a mini version of the big repairs to the fwd longitudinals, and cutting floorboards, carbon plate, getting bolts, sikaflex and epoxy ready to secure the area of the transom. The damage was probably caused by the loads on the rudders in the wipe out from the pilot before it tripped out, probably more than a crew would ever impose. A crew would have also have eased the mainsheet sooner. I was asleep below and felt the boat heel over and went up in my thermals to ease the mainsheet and take the helm before the boat went head to wind, so I was a few seconds late and totally soaked as well. It’s a shame to have damage, and the boat has survived many other wipe outs before. Even after the repair, it will be another area of concern till the finish. It’s a typical problem with a new boat, they normally have little areas that need reinforcement. Boats seem to go through a cycle where they get better and better as the little problems are discovered and rectified, before old age creeps in and then they start breaking again. Some people call it the bathtub principle, a steep slope of improvement, then a flat line where everything works, and then another steep curve of regression. Its just that out here on the Vendee I am doing the new boat reinforcements on the go! Another job is to work on the pilot rams, as the new one I put in yesterday does not work, and seems to have upset one of the pilot brains, so will have to troubleshoot that. The ram on the opposite side is working so ok for now, but would like to have original set up working as that has the more advanced pilot brain.  More sail repairs to do, and I would like to go up the mast to check the taping on the lower shrouds from some earlier chafe. Otherwise will do this in any calmer conditions after Cape Horn."
Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) in his daily message