Photos: Vincent Curutchet / Dark Frame / DPPI

Groupe Bel hit by a trawler

Disaster for Kito de Pavant's Vendee Globe hopes

Monday November 12th 2012, Author: James Boyd, Location: none selected

Kito de Pavant's Groupe Bel was struck this morning by a trawler off the coast of Portugal. The damage is significant but de Pavant is safe and he now heading for the Portuguese port of Cascais.

The collision occurred 70 miles north of Cascais, at around at 08:00 UTC. According to the first details provided by de Pavant and the Groupe Bel team, the damage is important including a broken bowsprit and a broken port deck spreader

De Pavant has since managed to secure Groupe Bel's mast. According to the skipper from Port-Camargue, the trawler had not activated her AIS, the system that allows ships to identified at all times.

Groupe Bel is currently heading towards Cascais with two reefs in hermainsail at a speed of 9 knots. There is currently 20 knots of wind with a WNW swell of 2.5m.

Latest Comments

  • Mats Ohlsson 15/11/2012 - 07:25

    I think that the trawler has acted unlawfully not using the AIS, perhaps in order to avoid monitoring by fishing authorities. If they were not trawling, they should have dodged the sailboat. That should also be determined.

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