Vendée Globe 2008-09

[Butxeta]

Unaï Basurko (Pakea Bizkaia) officially confirmed his retirement from the race at 12h34 UTC today due to the problem with his starboard rudder box. The Basque sailor does not believe this can be repaired at sea and he is therefore heading back northwards to pick up the trade winds. He does not want to go further south in these conditions because it would be dangerous for the boat. As he left the race, he took advantage of the occasion to wish all the skippers still at sea his best wishes and expressed his hope that they would not be faced with such problems. He is the sixth competitor to be forced out of the race after Kito de Pavant, Yannick Bestaven, Marc Thiercelin, Alex Thomson and Jérémie Beyou. As only the starboard rudder is affected, Unaï can sail on the starboard tack, with the port rudder in the water. Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty said on today's radio session that he had been on one tack all the way down the Atlantic, so we can imagine the same may be possible in the opposite direction, enabling the Basque sailor to sail all the way back to Spain.