Carpentier breaks boom

Bad news for tenth placed VM Materiaux in Vendee Globe

Late yesterday afternoon Vendee Globe veteran and eminent sailing journalist Patrice Carpentier reported that he had broken the boom on his 10th placed VM Materiaux.

"Dear all,

My boom has broken in a crash gybe while under 3 reefs in 27 knots of wind. The incident happened at 17h 30 GMT this evening at 44°50 S and 111°46 E. I'm heading east under jib alone and I'm going to think about the situation while I wait for daybreak. In principal I don't have what I need aboard to make repairs so I´m going to have to think of other ways to continue my course in the knowledge that any hopes of getting ranked are over.

Greetings
Patrice Carpentier aboard VM Materiaux

We await to hear what Carpentier decides to do