The novel rig aboard Sobedo—one of the race favorites—broke into pieces on Wednesday night.

PLYMOUTH, UK — Wednesday proved a pivotal time for the Class I monohulls as three racers lost their rigs in rough seas and winds that ranged from 35 to 45 knots. Shortly after 4:00 p.m. French time, the forestay aboard Eric Dumont's yawl-rigged Un Univers de service-Euroka parted and the entire rig came down. Dumont said that he was on deck at the time, battling through big seas, but he was unhurt. As of last night, the boat was still listing at a 45-degree angle as Dumont endeavored to cut away the rig. He said that he might have to wait until the seas calmed down before he could set up a jury rig and head east.
Not more than an hour after Dumont's undoing, Yves Parlier met his own misfortune when the top of his relatively new rotating rig snapped off at the hounds. Parlier later described that the wind had veered north and was intensifying, so he set his staysail and gradually tucked three reefs in the main. Everything seemed OK when he went below to eat and get some sleep. "I decided to get some kip and of course when the rig fell I didn't see anything as I was asleep. I could just see that the mast had broken right at the top part of the rigging, where the staysail meets the mast … I set up a jury rig immediately with a spreader and the staysail to gain in the downwind conditions, and so now I am moving at about 4 knots towards France … "
Thomas Coville aboard Sobedo was the next to have his rig come down, and fortunately he was unharmed as well when it broke into several pieces. Of the three Open Unlimited 60s, Sobedo's canting and rotating rig was the least conventional with no spreaders and only one backstay led to the aft quarter on either side of the boat. Definitive information on why the rig came down wasn't immediately available, though Coville did experience problems with the rig less than a month ago. He is currently sailing towards Brittany under jury rig.
The only other casualty among the Class I monohulls was American Bruce Burgess, who made landfall in Plymouth last night after turning back due to generator problems aboard his Hawaiian Express. Race authorities expect Burgess to restart later today.
Meanwhile, at the head of the fleet, Franck Joyon aboard the 60-foot trimaran Eure et Loire has moved into the lead by a mere seven miles over Alain Gautier's Foncia. Speaking with the race media center last night Joyon said: "There was more wind than expected, about 40 knots, and all over the place so [it was] hard to rest at all for trying different sail settings. Helming at night wasn't bad; the advantage is that the glass fibre structure of Eure & Loire means that it takes the shocks better in a bad sea." For additional information and complete fleet standings, log on to www.europe1newmanstar.com.