Kevin Escoffier rescued by Vendée Globe competitor Jean Le Cam
At 0118 hours UTC, the PRB team was informed that their Vendée Globe race skipper, Kevin Escoffier (PRB), had been rescued by Vendée Globe competitor Jean Le Cam from the Yes We Cam!
Escoffier had to abandon his IMOCA 60 PRB after the damage yesterday afternoon around 1346 UTC and took his life raft some 840 nautical miles southwest of Cape Town.
The rescue mission was coordinated from Les Sables d’Olonne by the Vendée Globe Race Direction in collaboration with CROSS Griz Nez and MRCC South Africa. PRB President Jean-Jacques Laurent was at the race venue with the race director, Jacques Caraës, and the race management team assisting throughout the process.
“He’s on board with Jean!” These brief words came as a great relief to the whole team, to the Escoffier family and to everyone involved in the Vendée Globe.
So far, Kevin has only been seen aboard YesWeCam via live video, as Jean Le Cam had his video system hooked up during all search operations. No one has yet been able to speak to the PRB captain who appeared smiling, wrapped in his survival suit with Jean Le Cam.
Vendée Globe race director Jacques Caraës commented: “We sent Jean back to a position received by CROSS Gris Nez, the position sent by the EPIRB emergency beacon on board. The Météo France drift simulation also yielded a trace. Jean departed at OOh15 UT (1h15 French time) at our request to reach this point at reduced speed. He found no one in the right place. Then it resumed its journey to the southeast for three-quarters, between 45 minutes and an hour, an hour. While moving at 1.5 knots in a 20-25 knot wind with a very low sail (3 curls on the mainsail and no motor), he disappeared from the screen when we suddenly heard him speak. We didn’t see anyone anymore. Then, a few minutes after 1:06 UT or 2:06 French time (time when he had to retrieve Kevin precisely on board), Jean went back down to the card table and then we saw Kevin arrive behind him in a survival game. suit. They both appeared to be fit seconds before the video cut. He’s fine. Everybody is fine. They are recovering!
On January 6, 2009, during the Vendée Globe 2008-2009, Vincent Riou, the then patron of the PRB, rescued Jean Le Cam from his capsized IMOCA 60 which capsized at Cape Horn.
This time around, 61-year-old and five-time Vendée Globe driver Le Cam has reversed roles by handing Escoffier, the 40-year-old Saint Malo skipper, out of a potentially lethal situation.
The entire TEAM PRB and the Vendée Globe community sincerely thank Jean Le Cam and the other three skippers, Boris Herrmann, Yannick Bestaven and Sébastien Simon, who have worked heroically and tirelessly to find Kevin, as well as the race director, the CROSS Nez Gray. and the MRCC Cape Town that coordinated the search
