On December 2, Initiatives-Coeur, being sailed by Sam Davies off South Africa in the Vendee Globe Race, came to a crashing halt. Davies describes the collision: “ It was as if I had run aground on a rock at the time. The boat speed went from 20kts to zero.” Davies had struck an unidentified floating object (UFO) which shattered the longitudinal stiffeners that support the boat’s keel. Davies herself suffered bruised ribs but was fortunately not seriously injured.
After determining that the repairs necessary to make the boat safe to sail in the Southern Ocean could not be performed at sea, Davies pointed Initiatives-Coeur’s bow toward Cape Town. Because the rules of the Vendee Globe require that the racers compete unassisted, Davies has retired from the race. She is not however giving up on the voyage. When and if the boat can be repaired she intends to continue sailing hors course or “out of the game,” no longer in the race, but still endeavoring to complete the circumnavigation.
From the Vendee Globe website: Sam hopes to complete the round the world voyage outside of the context of the race for her own benefit and for the children concerned by the “1 click=1 heart campaign.”
Sam Davies supports the humanitarian association Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque which enables children with severe heart defects to be operated on in France when it is impossible to do so in their own country for technical or financial reasons. During the Vendee Globe Race the sponsors on the “1 click=1 heart campaign” are donating 1€ to the Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque charity for each new Facebook fan or Instagram follower. So far Davies has raised close to 350,000€, enough to save 28 children with heart disease.
Sam Davies told the Vendee Globe organization, “If the boat is repairable, I am determined to go again. It’s my philosophy and that of the team. The Vendée Globe is a huge adventure. I’ve always had a lot of respect for those who ended up out of the race. Isabelle Autisier, but also Enda O’Coineen, I think he was the last person to do that, long after Nick Moloney had his accident. I have a lot of respect for that, I think it’s part of the adventure. If I can be one of those adventurers, I want to be, although it’s not easy because I’m a competitor with a great boat. But I am also an adventurer, passionate about the sea and the oceans, and I want to save children with Initiatives-Cœur.”
Isabelle Autissier is a French sailor, navigator, writer, and broadcaster who was the first woman to have completed a solo world navigation in competition in the predecessor to the Vendee Globe, the BOC Challenge 1990–91.
Enda O’Coineen is an Irish sailor in the last sailing of the Vendee Globe Race who completed the course after being forced to retire due to a dismasting.