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Following on from the collision that his boat experienced early in the race off Portugal, and after sailing to the island of Fernando de Noronha and diving twice to inspect what was happening under his hull, Bertrand de Broc, skipper of the monohull MACSF, after consulting with Marc Guillemot his Team Manager, has taken the decision this evening to retire from the race.

Bertrand de Broc decided yesterday evening to head for the island of Fernando de Noronha to inspect the hull of his boat. After consulting his architect, Bertrand has been forced to retire from his fourth Vendée Globe. A large part of the hull has in fact been damaged, making it impossible to continue in the race. The deafening noise that is coming from the damaged hull is very handicapping for the skipper, even if he was wearing noise-cancelling headphones. This was a very difficult decision for the successful skipper and his team, who have done their utmost to enable him to continue this solo race around the world. Tackling the Southern Ocean in these conditions, Bertrand knew would be extremely risky. It was therefore the wise thing to do, even if he is very disappointed. "Having to take this decision is very hard to bear. It is bound to happen some time in a skipper’s career, but it doesn’t make it any easier to bear. I’m disappointed. But it would not be reasonable to face the Southern Ocean in this state,” explained Bertrand de Broc

Doctor Philippe Eveilleau, President of the MACSF Group accepts this difficult decision and wanted to offer his full support to the skipper of the boat sponsored by health professionals. “Bertrand de Broc is living up to his legend and has attempted everything to continue. Even if he hasn’t completed the voyage, this has been an extraordinary adventure and we would like to congratulate him on his courage and perseverance. On behalf of everyone at the MACSF, we thank you for taking us aboard for this story with the Vendée Globe.”