The Mayday distress from the yacht occurred at 1230 UTC. The MRCC Ponta Delgada are co-ordinating the incident, in liaison with MRCC Falmouth, who have been assisted by World Cruising Club which immediately redirected the yachts in the area to Toutazimut's position.

At the time of the MoB incident the yacht was mid Atlantic, 24.06N 26.02W. Conditions were described as windy and rough, with big seas and 30 knots of wind.

This is the first time a incident of this nature has occurred in the ARC, which annually sees more than 200 yachts sail from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to St.Lucia. Andrew Bishop, General Manager of World Cruising Club, comments "We are very concerned at the news. The family have been informed and we will be doing every thing we can to assist them and the MRCC co-ordinating the incident."

The ARC race office is still investigating the incident. More information will be released when the organisers can ascertain the exact details of the incident.