Victim of keel cylinder problem, Benjamin Ferré finds the solution to repair
Twenty-third, a few miles from Cape Leeuwin, Benjamin Ferré had problems with his keel cylinder. “In the middle of a nap, I heard a huge bang. I wake up with a start, I get out of the bunk, I see oil exploding all over the boat, the keel moving downwind. Exactly the same scenario as during the Transat CIC where I broke my hydraulic cylinder which holds the keel, and which came aft and shattered the entire bottom of the hull. The diagnosis was made quite quickly: there is a fixing on the cylinder which literally exploded and shattered part of the material of the cylinder and caused an oil leak.” He puts on his overalls, attached his technical team on land and repairs: “After 12 hours of effort, well relayed by Jean le Cam who was incredible, who accompanied me all night, who found solutions for me, brought ideas. He called me every hour last night. It was hard, restless work. I am tired, totally exhausted, my body is stiff. I can't shake my hands anymore.” But he's still racing and that's the main thing!
