IMOCA 172 SOLOSAILOR

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Skipper of exploded yacht rescued in dramatic circumstances

The 'Imoca' with the 42 year old skipper Fabrice Amedeo on board caught fire after an explosion on Nov 13, 2022. After the Nexans – Art & Fênetres yacht sank, he was rescued by the 'Maersk Brani'. When the boat was flying hard in the squalls amid heavy seas suddenly, the ballast exploded on a wave, and several hundred litres of water in the boat. He stopped to be safe and start to empty everything. At that moment, the batteries were immediately affected by the water and failed, so he had a complete blackout on board, no more electricity: no more autopilot, no more computer, no more electronics. He decided, in consultation with his team, to proceed cautiously towards Cascais. In the afternoon there was smoke development. He used the extinguisher, put on the survival suit and alerted the race direction who asked a competitor to divert to assist if necessary. The smoke eventually stopsped, and he decided to resume the passage to Cascais. He meet James Harayda, the skipper of the 'Gentoo' who had come to the area to help . HE then completely dried the boat and prepared himself for a difficult passage. Shortly after 12.30 p.m. there was more new smoke on board, followed by an explosion. He grope his way back into the cabin and managed to retrieve the TPS. The survival bag had remained in the cockpit. He hit the fire extinguisher, but nothing happens. The smoke was not white like the day before, but yellow. The cockpit warps and yellows, and the skipper warned his team of a possible evacuation. When he was at the back of the boat ready to trigger the survival suit, a torrent of flame came out of the cabin and the coachroof, and he found himself caught in the middle of the flames. He managed to push the life raft into the water and jumped. The end that held the liferaft to the boat didn’t let go. The boat, which… was still going forwards pushed by rough seas, pulled it and it filled with water. He managed to get on board without letting go. He finally found the knife and cut the raft off. It started drifting downwind of the boat which was fully on fire and took 30 minutes to sink. He triggered the EPIRB on the liferaft and emptied the raft, gathered the flares and put the VHF around the neck. The raft regularly filled with water from the lightly breaking waves. Every 30 minutes, to preserve the batteries, he made a Mayday call on the VHF. The 'Maersk Brani' was six miles from the position. He was in constant contact on the VHF with the captain who could not see him amid the high seas. He launched a distress flare and was spotted, before being lost again, so he hit a second one. A first approach failed. The crew threw ropes, that he couldn’t recover at all at first. Eventually he retrieved one near the bow of the ship. The crew pulled him to a gangway that had been dropped. He jumped on the stairs and climb onto the deck, being welcomed by about 20 crew members. Reports with photos: https://www.yacht.de/regatta/wettfahrten/route-du-rhum-amedeo-nach-der-rettung-der-tod-wollte-mich-heute-nicht/ https://www.zeilen.nl/actueel/nieuws/afscheid-van-een-zinkende-boot/