François Gabart: A broken armour does not prevent a record

Last night, on the tenth day of his solo circumnavigation, Francois Gabart discovered a problem with the batten, a stiffening batten in the sail of his 100-foot trimaran MACIF.

The sailor, who is alone on the 30-meter boat according to the rules of the race, had to slow down, lower the sail and try to repair the problem himself.

He managed to temporarily fix the damaged rail before reaching the Cape of Good Hope. However, the problem needs a more thorough repair, which Gabar intends to do later - when the weather conditions are more favorable.

Recall that François Gabar is currently attempting to break the world record for non-stop circumnavigation, adopted in 2016 by Thomas Coville, who incidentally won the famous «Coffee Rac»e yesterday .

Despite technical problems and a forced reduction in speed, the 34-year-old yachtsman is 303 nautical miles ahead of his absentee rival at this stage.

François Gabar crossed the start line on November 4, having chosen the best weather window beforehand. The goal-oriented sailing enthusiast plans to circumnavigate the globe by 13:09 on December 23, as this is the only way to break the world record.

Only three yachtsmen in the history of sailing have been able to overcome this incredibly difficult challenge and go non-stop around the world alone.

Apart from the current record holder, the Frenchman Francis Joyon did it twice in 2004 and 2008, and the Briton Ellen MacArthur did it in 2005.