Vincent Riou's monohull with Jean Le Cam on board is due to arrive in Puerto Williams, the Chilean naval port, in the next few minutes. PRB entered the Beagle Channel this morning under tow by the patrol vessel Alacalufe, with the NW'ly winds set to strengthen this afternoon. The two skippers are set to step ashore at around 9.30 GMT and will be talking shortly on a live radio link-up with Vendée Globe HQ in Paris.  
 

"It's a nice day and the sun is out, so I was able to recharge my batteries to 83 %. It was a difficult decision to take, but I shan't be stopping at Stewart Island. I obviously need to repair my mainsail halyard. While that problem remains I shall be sailing under reduced sail, which means I will take ages to reach Les Sables d’Olonne! The thing is if I stop on Stewart Island, I'll be even further behind Norbert, and will be crossing the Pacific alone… If there were any problems, there would be no one to come to my aid. If I decided to stop after the Horn, the distance lost to Norbert won't matter as I'll be near the coast and rescue teams. I just hope the halyard holds out until then. The news of Jean Le Cam also influenced my decision as it proves that the quickest help can come from a fellow competitor"

Raphaël Dinelli (Fondation Océan Vital) in an e-mail last night. 
 

"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. »