“The waves are mountains”, the distressing images of Beyou shaken by the storm

With the damage to Sam Goodchild (Vulnerable) who tore his mainsail, Jérémie Beyou is heading towards fourth place in the Vendée Globe with a comfortable lead over his pursuers. But the matter is not yet in the bag for the sailor who has weathered an impressive storm in the last few hours in the Azores.

The third in the 2016-2017 edition, who was among the favorites of the race this year, found the time to film the extreme conditions crossed in the North Atlantic. “We entered 40 and 55 knots earlier. We have mountains of waves. Oh p…..! »explains the three-time winner of the Solitaire du Figaro (in 2005, 2011 and 2014) very worriedly at the moment when waves of sea hit forcefully against the plexiglas of his living cell.

Beyou, who is competing in his fifth Vendée Globe, is used to bad weather but the depression encountered in the Azores was of rare violence. “We try to ensure that the boat does not go too quickly into the waves otherwise it ends badly at the bottom. There shouldn't be more… I think there's enough for about ten hours like that. I'm at the strongest, well I hope to be at the strongest because if it's stronger than that, it's going to be complicated. Oh la la la la la…”adds with a grimace the 48-year-old sailor whose boat was hitting violently in the waves.

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“We must not damage the boat, the equipment must hold”sighed the sailor, still looking outside. Unfortunately, the weather forecasts predicted a deterioration in navigation conditions before returning to normal. “The weather gets worse and worse for the future. We're going to hit the center of the depression. In a pinch it's better at night because at least you don't see the waves. It has to hold”he concluded before suddenly cutting the recording of the sequence.