“It’s everywhere, it’s completely crazy,” Guirec Soudée stopped in a shoal of sargassum

When it comes to stationary boats, navigator Guirec Soudée is unbeatable. During his sailing trip around the world in 2016, accompanied by his faithful hen Monique, the Breton was trapped in the ice of Greenland for many weeks. The Vendée Globe sailor is therefore vaccinated for this type of mishap which fortunately was not repeated on the descent of the Atlantic.

But in a short video, the sailor who was in 25th place this Friday afternoon, far behind Charlie Dalin, had fun showing one of the many traps awaiting competitors crossing the Doldrums. At the heart of this intertropical zone where the winds are extremely capricious and forecasts are very difficult, the sailor encountered an immense shoal of sargassum, brown algae which grows on the surface of the water. As they develop, they can form masses of 1000 m2 several meters thick! A formidable trap for Imocas and their appendages.

“The cow! Friends, I have to take the stand, there is sargassum but everywhere, everywhere everywhere. It’s completely crazy”explains the navigator who shows the extent of the bench with his smartphone. “It will completely stop the boat… The cow… We have to juggle between the beds of sargassum and the grains. The boat is no longer maneuverable, I have sargassum in the rudder, in the keel and the centerboard. I'm going to have to stop, face the wind, furl the front sails and reverse to remove at least what's on the keel.”commented the sailor who should cross the Equator during the night from Friday to Saturday, before concluding: “The good news is that we don’t get bored.”