Towards the end of the night while sailing under mainsail and genoa, Roland JOURDAIN (FRA) heard a suspicious noise on board Veolia Environnement and went to find out where it came from. He stopped his boat to inspect it, but did not find anything unusual. It was only after trimming the sails on again that the boat took on an abnormal heel.
JOURDAIN concluded almost immediately that there is damage to his keel.
For the moment, he does not know whether he has lost the bulb or whether the keel blade has been damaged.
Today's problem is possibly a consequence of his collision with a sea mammal on 8 January as the boat has had no subsequent impact with any type of floating objects.
Full story to follow...
Vendee Globe Leaderboard - 15:00 UTC 28 January 2009
1. Michel DESJOYEAUX (FRA), Foncia at 1090 miles to finish
2. Roland JOURDAIN (FRA), Veolia Environnement at 791 miles from first place
3. Armel LE CLÉAC'H (FRA), Brit Air at 1141.7 miles from first place
4. Sam DAVIES (GBR), Roxy at 2209.7 miles from first place
5. Marc GUILLEMOT (FRA), Safran at 2266.3miles from first place
6. Brian THOMPSON (GBR), Bahrain Team Pindar at 2446.1 miles from first place
7. Dee CAFFARI (GBR), Aviva at 2629.1 miles from first place
8. Arnaud BOISSIÈRES (FRA), Akena Vérandas at 3293.5 miles from first place
9. Steve WHITE (GBR), Toe in the Water 4149.9 miles
10. Rich WILSON (USA), Great American III at 5410 miles from first place
11. Raphaël DINELLI (AUT), Fondation Océan Vital at 7013.4 miles from first place
12. Norbert SEDLACEK (FRA), Nauticsport - Kapsch at 7092.1 miles from first place
RDG . Vincent RIOU (FRA), PRB, Awarded equal third as redress
30 boats started
