“It forces on the boat.
It's hot, it's hot, it's hot ”.
We can perfectly feel all the concern in the tone of voice of Romain Attanasio.
The images are impressive, frightening, and give an idea of the dire conditions with which the skipper of "Pure - Best Western" is confronted in the Vendée Globe.
Tuesday January 12, while filming a raging sea, with 40 knots of average wind and 50 in gusts, at the back of his boat under a dark gray sky and low, Attanasio fell heavily against a winch (winch).
A shock violent enough that he lost consciousness.
"It hurts me like hell"
“I fell out of the woods a bit, but I'm used to that, on the other hand, I fell on the ribs, explains the skipper afterwards, obviously still in shock.
It hurts like hell… It hurts when I breathe deeply and my head is spinning when I breathe deeply… but I think I'm fine.
I'll call the doctor.
"
The consultation delivered its verdict on Wednesday: the fifth or sixth rib broken, probably.
The race doctor was able to prescribe pain medication quickly.
“It was scary,” says the skipper.
It's not the 40 knots that are impressive, I've experienced that before, but I was afraid of breaking the boat.
I'm glad I got out.
"
Difficult conditions aboard @PUREvoile - @BestWesternFr ... "Sea of beggars" as @RomainAttanasio would say!
🌊
The skipper hurt his ribs, but a priori nothing serious 💪 He made a point with Dr. Jean-Yves Chauve.
# VG2020 pic.twitter.com/HZLQYGTxRx
- Vendée Globe (@VendeeGlobe) January 13, 2021
Contacted at the vacation this Wednesday morning, Romain Attanasio said he was in good shape and explained that he was suffering mainly when maneuvering the winch column.
“From what Dr Chauve told me, I must have hit the fifth and sixth ribs.
But it's okay, he gave me some medicine that works well.
It hurts me when I'm on the column, especially in reverse.
"
Currently thirteenth in this 9th edition of the Vendée Globe, the sailor passed Cape Horn last week and is sailing along South America towards the Old Continent.
Samantha Davies collects donations
At the beginning of December, his wife, Samantha Davies, also at the start of the Vendée Globe, had also injured her ribs.
She had hit an unidentified floating object (UFO) and had to make her way to Cape Town in South Africa to try to find a shelter where she could repair her boat.
Although she had to give up the race, "Sam" had decided to continue her world tour ... for a good cause.
Thanks to its sponsor Initiatives-Cœur, it collects donations for the Mécénat Surgery Cardiac association.
With the 1 click = 1 heart operation, for each share or each new fan on the Initiatives Coeur Facebook or Instagram pages, one euro is paid by the Le Mans company and the other sponsors of the boat (K-Line and Vinci Energies ) to the association which allows children with heart defects and coming from disadvantaged countries to undergo surgery in France.