Round-the-world sailors limp back to port
The two Swiss skippers in the gruelling Vendée Globe solo around-the-world yacht race have both returned to port just two days into the competition.
Dominique Wavre returned to dry land soon after Sunday’s start because of an electrical problem, and overnight Bernard Stamm of Switzerland collided with a Maltese cargo ship and also turned back.
Wavre and Stamm are two of six skippers to be forced to head back to Les Sables d’Olonne, the French town on the Atlantic Ocean where the Vendée Globe starts and ends.
After a ten-hour delay, Wavre set sail again on Sunday night and thanks to some good wind had caught up to within 150km of the field.
Stamm also hopes to later rejoin the 29-man and one-woman race, which was won in 87 days four years ago, but he will have to wait until at least Tuesday before his repairs are ready.
Vincent Riou of France set a quick early pace in the ultimate test of single-handed sailing endurance. But by noon on Monday Marc Guillemot lead ahead of Roland Jourdain and Loïck Peyron.
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