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Guirec Soudée forced to dive into icy waters near Cape Horn

This morning, at 0830 UTC the halyard of the code 0 (largest headsail) of the IMOCA Freelance.com broke. The 200m2 sail ended up in the water, dangerously tangling in the keel.
Guirec had no choice but to dive under his boat, in water of 5 degrees Celcius, to disengage the sail from his keel. It was a particularly difficult and high-risk operation in the cold waters of the South Atlantic, while the boat was uncontrollable and drifting towards the coast.
At the end of an exhausting operation he brought the sail back on board. For him, the mission was essential: "it would make me sick to leave anything in the ocean." But he admitted to being exhausted afterwards, confiding to his team: "I have no more juice left.”

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Plonger au cap Horn pour sauver une voile | Vendée Globe 2024
RACE, JANUARY 08, 2025 : Photo sent from the boat Freelance.com during the Vendee Globe sailing race on January 08, 2025. (Photo by skipper Guirec Soudée)
RACE, JANUARY 08, 2025 : Photo sent from the boat Freelance.com during the Vendee Globe sailing race on January 08, 2025. (Photo by skipper Guirec Soudée)

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