A flying formula

ST. MALO, France -- A second boat has capsized and nine boats have abandoned the Route du Rhum trans-Atlantic race after a series of accidents in bad weather.

Eure & Loire-Lorenove, sailed by Francis Joyon, capsized in a squall on Monday night about 175 nautical miles from Cape of Finisterre, Spain.

"The boat capsized in two seconds. At the moment I am hiding in the cockpit and I am trying to empty the boat with water," Joyon told the race committee. He said he was not injured but needed help from a tow boat.

The latest casualty comes after Groupama capsized on the first night of the race. She was then rammed by fellow competitor Jean Le Cam in Bonduelle. Neither sailor was hurt but Groupama was towed to port.

News of Groupama's accident so unnerved Bertrand de Broc sailing Banque Covefi that he decided to abandon the race.

"I was frightened during the night and I have taken the decision to stop racing solo in general. You have to be 200 percent out there and I realised last night that I had some doubts that I could not get rid of," said de Broc.

De Broc said that he saw a dark shape ahead of him which he avoided, but realised only later that he had narrowly missed the capsized hull of Groupama.


Groupama was towed to port after capsizing



De Broc, an ex-merchant navy graduate, is an experienced solo racer who is renowned for performing surgery on his own tongue during the Vendee Globe and is no stranger to ocean disasters, having suffered a dismasting in the

1990 Route du Rhum and a capsize in the 1996 Vendee Globe.

Nine yachts have abandoned the race, which began from the French port of St. Malo at the weekend.

The race had a record 59 entries, making it one of the most impressive and competitive fleets assembled with 17 Open 60-foot monohulls and 18 Orma 60-foot trimarans, as well as smaller monohulls and multihulls.

Gitana X also abandoned the race after about seven metres broke off from the top of its mast on Monday night as it sailed in 25 knots with four-metre waves.

Belgacom, skippered by Jean Luc Nélias, headed to port with sail problems, while difficulties with Bayer CropScience's autopilot caused Frederic Le Peutrec to go the same way.

The leading sailor on Tuesday morning was Yvan Bourgnon in Rexona Men, with Thomas Coville in Sodebo and Loick Peyron in Fujifilm close behind.

Roland Jordain in Sill, Mike Golding in Ecover and Briton Ellen MacArthur in Kingfisher followed.

The 3,540 mile single-handed race from St. Malo to Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe, was originally set up in 1978 to rival the British single-handed transatlantic race from Plymouth to Rhode Island, U.S.

Held every four years, it has seen major technical advances in the unrestricted open ocean racers, characterised by the current crop of Open 60 monohulls and ORMA 60 trimarans which are dominated by French professional sailors.

The first finishers are expected in Pointe a Pitre about November 22.