After announcing on Friday, December 27, a major failure in the steering system of the IMOCA Maître CoQ V, which could not be repaired at sea, Yannick Bestaven, in consultation with his technical team, decided to make a stopover in Ushuaia to repair the various damages sustained in recent days.

Since these repairs cannot be carried out alone, Yannick will be joined this Monday by part of his technical team in Argentina. This intervention means the withdrawal of Yannick Bestaven and Maître CoQ V from this 10th edition of the Vendée Globe.

While sailing in about 30 knots of wind, on a choppy sea with 5-meter waves, heading toward Cape Horn, Yannick Bestaven contacted his technical team onshore on Friday, December 27, at 9:00 p.m. UTC (10:00 p.m. French time) to report a major failure in the steering system of his monohull, Maître CoQ V. The boat initially became unmanageable, but the skipper, a resourceful engineer akin to "MacGyver," managed to devise a temporary solution using ropes to steer his boat toward Cape Horn in a degraded mode. Yannick Bestaven rounded Cape Horn on Sunday, December 29, at 7:21 p.m. UTC (8:21 p.m. French time), after 49 days, 7 hours, and 19 minutes of racing.

After assessing the situation and considering various options with the Maître CoQ sailing team, Yannick decided to make a stopover in Ushuaia, Argentina, to repair his boat with the help of his team. Yannick is expected to arrive in Argentina on Monday, December 30. This carefully thought-out decision highlights the character of the skipper, who celebrated his 52nd birthday just two days ago. Determined but not stubborn, Yannick made a reasonable choice in light of the various technical problems that have arisen this week. Intelligence and humility have triumphed over the accumulation of failures.

For reference, Yannick faced the loss of his Code 0 sail on Tuesday, December 24, damaging his starboard foil while recovering the sail from the water. A few days later, his FR0 (a forward sail) exploded when Maître CoQ broached during a squall. Yannick also discovered hull issues on the starboard rear quarter of the boat. These technical problems, combined with the steering system failure, have rendered the IMOCA Maître CoQ V uncontrollable, unable to ensure the safety of both skipper and vessel. Yannick Bestaven is therefore compelled to withdraw from the race.

The La Rochelle skipper rounded Cape Horn during the race on Sunday evening, December 29, and is expected to reach the Argentine coast on Monday, December 30. His technical and sporting director, Jean-Marie Dauris, his boat captain, Stan Delbarre, rigging specialist Yvan Joucla, composite expert Ludo Bosser, and onboard electronics engineer Arnaud Chaigne will fly out on Monday, December 30, to join him as quickly as possible and begin repairs.

Yannick Bestaven had announced before the start that this Vendée Globe would mark his final solo race. While it is not ending as he had envisioned, Yannick is determined to helm Maître CoQ V solo back to Les Sables d’Olonne once the boat is made seaworthy again. This will mark the beginning of a new adventure outside the competition. Yannick, who has always shown remarkable resilience and unyielding strength of character, is eager to write the next and final chapter of his solo journey before starting a new phase in his sailing career.