Full story: Kevin Escoffier heroic rescue boat sunk

The full story of what really happened 680 miles south west of Cape of Good Hope in the Vendee Globe 2020. Featuring Jean Le Cam, Kevin Escoffier and race director Jacques Caraes.

[@kimfucku8074]

Man over board situations including recovery in calm seas can be challenging already but with those waves at night an absolute master piece!!

[@davidolsson1729]

And Jean has truly proven that Yes We Cam! Whatever position he ends up in - he's the true winner of Vendee Globe 2020 in my mind.

[@sailinguncovered]

And to think he was rescued last time by the boat that sank this time

[@stevenross-watt8640]

Thanks for the subtitles. Wonderful heroic seamanship. Great team effort.

[@gnosticmom2805]

To me, Jean Le Cam is already the winner of Vendee Globe 2020.

[@750count]

What a great account of this rescue All great sailors searching and prepared to assist Jean Le Cam taking no chances of losing him twice Very exciting and great outcome

[@ladydi4runner]

Indeed! So happy Cam persevered and was relieved immensely upon seeing him the 2nd time! Thanks to God for all parties being safely aboard. 🙏🏻👏🏻

[@jamespowell2924]

Great efforts by all the sailors and perseverance by Jean Le Cam! Can't imaging who would give this a thumbs down.

[@garrettfalls7953]

People click thumbs down because they agree it’s a bad situation. Even though it’s a well made video.

[@zeusxlnl]

Magnifique seamanship and camaraderie. Bon voyages messieurs!

[@santiagobenites]

This is great news! Sailors coming to another's rescue! Beautiful!

[@rosewood1]

Seconds to disaster!!! What a magnificent effort! What an incredible story for Kevin Jean and everyone else. Congratulations to you all. Very scary story. Heroic

[@timpani1950]

Bless the brave sailors, the rescuer and the rescued: that is how to live a good life, with courage and consideration for others. Well done!

[@joem3556]

well said. sailing community have this solidarity i don't see in other sports.

[@FamilieJungeHH]

I wish we had such solidarity in the whole world. Congrats, great Job!

[@JamieSmith-fz2mz]

We do, for the most part. It shows up at weird times.

[@fabienh3943]

Guys, I'm glad this went well, but don't over romantisize this: every single skipper who deviated was explicitly ordered to do so. Probably they would have done it anyhow, but Jean had no option, point.

[@colbr6733]

@@fabienh3943 Okay it is maritime law to do so and the race doesn't stop because one guy ends up in the sea. Well I can't think of any instance where it has at the moment, but when you are the one in the water you really appreciate the sacrifice of your fellow competitor makes when they come to your aid. You are fully aware of the effort it took them just to get to the start line in the first place. If you have ever lost anyone at sea and seen the effort people put into helping a total stranger, they aren't doing it because some stupid rule says they should.

[@patriciahutson]

Superb Seamanship Jean, outstanding result. Safe is the sailor safe from the sea. Tumeke indeed. On On the race continues. God speed Jean , your in the record books for this one neh. UBIQUE

[@garstanforddasilva9663]

Bless Jean le Cam, patron saint of those in the sea. Brilliant Jean. Clak, clak, clak!!

[@broadreach3120]

Bravery, skill and unselfish commitment, is all want from your fellow human being when the shit hits the fan .The solo sailor is a rare breed indeed.

[@fabienh3943]

You didn't listen to what this guy told, did you? Jean did...

[@finding_mojo]

Awesome effort everyone! Great job! So happy to hear a tragedy was averted. It will make Alex reassess his misfortunes I think.

[@rbcoast2936]

A rescue in high seas...AT NIGHT! Amazing job!

[@christinegerard4974]

Dingue ! Quelle histoire ! et que de chocs successifs ! Bonjour les émotions... Merci pour cette sacrée vidéo et un grand bravo à tous !

[@ronaldeaker6402]

Absolutely outstanding!!

[@draazar]

Congratulations and huge respect to the rescuers. So happy for Kevin :) Yes we Cam!

[@jeffhutton323]

Chapeau boys, chapeau! Jean le Cam is the man...

[@didinefertikh2971]

Bravo le cam !!!!! Les hommes !!!!

[@doyourownthing]

Beautifully done Sir, bravo!!

[@jeremyhookway6302]

Bravo Jean le Cam. Respect!

[@sm-gl3fz]

Bravo Le Cam d'avoir rendu la pareille

[@nourse5884]

Yes we cam !

[@DirkJacobsz]

Bravo Jean le Cam - my hero - Well done Kevin - glad you are safe ..

[@mdcoomer67]

I guess we know who's buying the drinks when they hit port. Glad everyone is safe.

[@hgsert2733]

PRB saved the King Jean few years ago. Today Jean saves PRB !

[@djoulsdrummer93]

Yes absolutly but this time the ship is lost but sailor safe

[@johnswimcat]

Time for the rule makers and designers to have a good look at exactly what they are putting out there. The boats are getting more and more extreme and it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. Kevin was very nearly lost. For me Jean le Cam has already won this race

[@daveoriordan1537]

Corum out, Charal already turned back and restarted. Hugo Boss out and now PRB. The boats are now gone over the line. It's crazy putting boats to sea with 50% more righting moment than the rigs can withstand!

[@johnswimcat]

@@daveoriordan1537 There is a word in the English language, "seaworthy". It seems to have been forgotten by some of the people involved in these ventures. You can set to sea in anything you want and I wouldn't stop you. However this is a race with rules

[@tullochgorum6323]

I'm no architect but I was surprised when we got a sight of the bow structure in Hugo Boss. Considering that it is slamming into waves at up to 40 knots, it seemed very lightweight indeed. Now PRB literally breaks in two, despite being reinforced for the race. I know someone who works in carbon fibre fabrication and once you get repetitive compression combined with torsion the properties are difficult to model. With LinkedOut limping on one foil, PRB, Corum and Hugo Boss out and Charal at the back of the fleet you've got to think they're getting something horribly wrong. It's easy to imagine a scenario where one of the skippers dies on one of these boats...

[@MichaelJCroninND]

@@tullochgorum6323 How old a boat is PRB, is is at retrofit with the wings and hydrolics? Wikipedia says The current PRB, the fifth was launched in 2010. While sailing in the 2020-2021 Vendee Globe with french skipper Kevin Escoffier, reported issues with a valve at the starboard foil on the 22 november.

[@afthefragile]

It reminds me of when the Volvo Ocean Race went from the VO70s to VO65s. The VO70s were fast but they were also incredibly fragile. The decision had to be made to move to a one design boat which was more robust to survive getting beat up in the southern ocean and because it's one design, the designers wouldn't be sacrificing strength for speed.

[@jwph610]

Great review of this amazing rescue. Yes...he could!

[@tukinfoods5111]

Awesome work! They are true lions of men!

[@claudealain85]

Comme le disent certains, Jean Le Cam est déjà, quelque part, le vainqueur de ce Vendée Globe.

[@peterculverwell2030]

Fantastic outcome to this freak boat breaking, Bravo Zulu to all concerned behind the scenes and especially to Jean Le Cam - a hero 👌👌

[@peterwiley2780]

Absolutely amazing!! All three rescuers deserve a huge cheer!! However, what are the race implications for Jean Le Cam who now has a passenger and the other boats who diverted to help?

[@Peter-po1vu]

I believe the time lost to the rescue is deducted from the total race time

[@DominiqueB]

yes, they all get their time credited back - probably never quite 100% fair, hard to put a number on what they really lost, when you start taking into acount getting their head out of the race, extra fatigue to boat and skipper, potential loss of a favorable weather window, etc, but all the skippers know that _they_ could be the next person who need rescue, and that's how the ocean rules. And it's a gentleman's sport - the "passenger" will not help, and try to stay out of the way. Could be an advantage to have someone to talk to, could be a negative distraction, i suppose.

[@knop2007]

I agree with that. And Jean very well knows that this can happen and that it is more important than the race. He himself was rescued by the skipper of PRB (what were the odds...), 8 years ago I believe.

[@wakeupthebear]

Great story of survival on the edge of the earth. Thank you

[@pg-mtl8815]

Bravo aux valeureux marins pour ce sauvetage héroïque!!!

[@jeanbernier]

Super description des évènements !! Pas facile tous ça !!!!

[@thadaeuss9351]

Sublime merci 👍

[@Ash-cy7yw]

Phenomenal. Well played by all. Godspeed.

[@xerxses88]

"Will you be back?" - I'm not sure I'd have been quite as polite!

[@othmane0490]

Bravo le cam you are the best. Good luck clac clac clac

[@robwestern7702]

Congratulations on your response and rescue this could have been a real tragedy for braving those that turned into these seas for a fellow seaman they all should receive medals for their actions especially jean

[@CAPHENIA]

Great team, great sailors!

[@mohamedtahaabida8701]

Bravoo

[@fghelmke]

Amazing! In 2009 it was Jean who got rescued...

[@Darling-xy9qp]

Bravo les mecs !!!! 👍👍

[@paulguile2199]

Outstanding!

[@snowgorilla9789]

Bravo to all involved HERO'S

[@yanicklajoie6237]

Wow!! Amazing seamanship !!!

[@thomasms-escape8828]

Geniale un vrai marin, fellicitations de tout mon coer

[@giampietrolazzarini1228]

super JEAN !!!!!!!!!!!! SANTO SUBITO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@johnfleming3289]

Bravo Kevin, Bravo Jean. Great sea rescue!

[@skyak4493]

I still want to hear from Kevin how his boat went down so fast. Folded? A 60ft carbon fiber boat folded?

[@ptitpapi4980]

J'ai tout suivi,bravo vous êtes des héros pour moi.à 4 heures j'ai vu que Kevin était sauvé, j'ai chialé. Je peux juste dire que vous êtes mes héros, c'est incroyable de se sortir d'un merdier pareil.bravo Monsieur Jean le cam et Merci pour votre sens de la vie.Et je pense que heureusement que Mr Escoffier n'était pas dans la banette , l'histoire n'aurai peut-être pas était la même.bravo. À toute l'organisation aussi

[@kingrobert1st]

Ok that was very brave and heroic and selfless to rescue a fellow sailor in distress, but this is a single handed boat race, so now Mr. Cam has a passenger on board, isn't he automatically disqualified?

[@LetterSignedBy51SpiesWasA-Coup]

“I saw him. Kevin in his life raft. I told him I would be back and there is no need to rush things.” C’est la vie.

[@seabournewolf2298]

And par hazzard as the French say they immediately lost him. They should have made the attempt to pull him from the water as soon as they found him. I’ve saved a few distressed boats over the years. I’ve never told one. No rush buddy. We’ll be back

[@monalegall3319]

@@seabournewolf2298 @John Harmon Well no need to rush isn't a good traduction of what Jean le Cam said, what he said is " on va pas faire n'importe quoi" wich could be translated as we're not going to mess up. Adding it to the info said earlier of difficult weather condition and the fact they didn't knew yet the risk of drifting was so important, it is more to be understood as to risky to try a rescue at this moment. Sorry if you had understood the video, I just thought the subtitles were not perfect on this part of the video and could led to misunderstood of what Jean le Cam really said. Have a good day ( or night )

[@wobby1516]

Fantastic 🇬🇧

[@veraciteabsolue1221]

La légende des siècles, en 4'' il envoie un message, revêt sa combinaison, va chercher son radeau, le prépare, le met à l'eau...

[@Mr7valentine7]

Well done!

[@gnedelcu7]

Bonsoir Nous vous remercions pour ce video. Merci au Ciel pour ce merveilleux sauvetage. Qu'ce que ont fait les autres skippeurs deroutes? Merci pour une reponse. București, România

[@sergioblanco6688]

Que muestra de compañerismo y lealtad a los hombres de Mar. Mis mas sinceros respetos y gratitud. Muy buena la información de lo acontecido.

[@fanfoue74200]

Yes Jean can, and Jean did it !

[@basb1179]

hero king jean!!!

[@billw3571]

Yes We Cam!!!!!!!

[@minad95]

I don’t understand why he told him that he’ll be back instead of rescuing him straight away. The first time that he found him. Is there something I am missing?

[@daemn42]

Presumably the rescue boat was under full sail just to to the scene as fast as possible, and Jean didn't feel it was possible or safe to try to stop immediately. I'm sure the plan was to de-power the sails, get the motor started and approach Kevin in the raft slowly from downwind. Not being able to get the motor started immediately screwed up the plan. Consider that even when Jean did come back later and threw him the flotation ring, it still pulled Kevin out of the life raft (it most likely has a sea anchor), but he was going slow enough that Kevin could pull himself onboard. If the boat had been going faster, it would have pulled Kevin out into the southern ocean, but he may not have been able to hang on.

[@Archie_Haddock]

I don't get how these IMOCAs can be so structally unsound that they fall into pieces in a matter of seconds. Counting Alex's boat, this is the second that's gone out of competition within a few days. I guess Pip has the safest one, having turned 20 last year. Extremely well done by Jean le Cam, but also very lucky like any real hero! This was really touch and go and they have barely reached the Southern Ocean.

[@profeuphorbe]

quelle idée de diffuser Titanic la veille :) (je me permets l'humour l'issue étant heureuse pour Kevin Escoffier)

[@lesmobylettesdebeaufort6267]

J'y avait pas pensé...le pauvre Kevin, c'etait pas du cinéma pour lui...😅

[@Camerounisme]

La solidarité entre marins💪👍

[@Saylor-Rob61]

Amen!

[@poly_hexamethyl]

Did they ever find out what caused the catastrophic damage to the boat? Did he hit a submerged object, such as a shipping container? Or was it some kind of structural failure due to previous overstressing?

[@jfdavid29]

Bravo Jean .un vrai Finistérien.Hugo boss broke a longitudinal girder. PRB broke the bow in two.are there structural problems on these ships ?

[@colaoliver1587]

Please do a follow up of this story. I assume KEVIN ESCOFFIER is still on the boat. Are there enough previsions for the two sailors to continue non stop? Can they be resupplied at sea from a boat out of Ushuaia without penalty?

[@sailinguncovered]

3 days later he was picked up by a French navy vessel who also dropped off extra food to Le Cam to make up for the food eaten by his passenger! (it included fine pate') Le Cam continues to race...

[@petitemauvepetitemauve4023]

sacré bonhomme ce Jean ! quel sens de la mer ...!

[@mhansl]

It's the same in every class, from dinghy races, to ocean races.. Sailors come to the aid of others, with no second thought.

[@kathrynmcfarlane1243]

Bravo

[@j27340]

PTL

[@therickpound]

A most unforgiving mistress, enticing, alluring & gorgeous, with the darkest secrets.

[@ichewtoast111]

Shoutout to EPIRBS!

[@thomasrdm459]

Jean le Cam de Carmelide

[@grimkur]

The true sailor

[@bradleydaniels9639]

Super Heros❤️

[@jbbosselut]

Les Ais fonctionnent en VHF ( 162 mhz)

[@sallybaldwin1603]

Thinking of Alex's problems... Are noses an ever greater weak spot? Didn't Boris Herrmann recently muse about the vurtues of a scow-type bow?

[@teamD4L]

#KingJean 😍😎👍

[@kennethken8974]

All this problem will be in the past when starlink is fully online right? That guy can even post on reddit while waiting for rescue.

[@ALIENWAREGTX]

Bravo ! Des hommes des vrai !

[@emaskialp]

hero

[@andrewharris8439]

Being a Clipper round the world sailor myself

[@MrRafterPL]

To me Jean already won this edition of VdG

[@jamesbont7052]

Emoca sunk????

[@wasabiginger6993]

Wonder if the boat hit something, or was between troughs at the wrong moment? ... amazing to me that the sailors all know that something like this can happen ... their boat breaking in two! ... and loss of life is very real, all too easy to happen ... fortunately, not this time!

[@andrewharris8439]

This rescue so difficult. Very concerning boat construction has been compromised for speed

[@rayan-ue8rs]

Bateau il a coulé Jean le cam

[@jipegame]

Malgré toutes ces explications et même si on a navigué au large sur des voiliers de "plaisance" on a peine à imaginer ce que ces deux là ont dû vivre dans des conditions extrêmes de vent de mer et de température ( ils sont dans les 40èmes) C'est autre chose que de faire un empannage en 420 sur le lac de Serre-Ponçon ...

[@Rocstoneau]

I counted 217 “eerrrs”.

[@VidarrKerr]

And just like that, his boat folded in half like a piece of paper.

[@romainlalande8456]

Bah nickel, on me dit vas y j'y vais et la jvois Kevin et jlui dit bah attends tranquille je reviens et on boit lapero , ah je reviens il était plus la... Ah bah attend on va pas en rester là . Jlui dis attends on attend le jour et on boit un coup...

[@johnburgess5534]

Bravo Zulu Jean.

[@lightning9279]

Lesson learned is to get the person the first time. You may not get another.

[@wilfdarr]

So Boss broke the bow, this one folded in half: I'm going to go out on a limb and say maybe the IMOCA 60 as it stands now isn't up to the task of ocean racing. This is how the sport gets a bad name. It's not supposed to be a test of “the luckiest sailor on the planet”, it's supposed to be “the best sailor on the planet”.

[@nikolaospapamichail6142]

Great rescue. However: Memories from Formula 1, high speeds, drivers in danger, materials failing, spectators enjoy.