Swiss skipper disqualified from Vendee Globe

PARIS (AFP) –

Swiss skipper Bernard Stamm sailing onboard his “Cheminees Poujoulat” monohull off the coast of Brest, Western France on October 1, 2012 during a training session. Stamm has been disqualified of the 7th edition of the Vendee Globe solo round-the-world race.

Swiss skipper Bernard Stamm has been disqualified from the solo, non-stop, round-the-world yacht race the Vendee Globe for receiving assistance, the international jury overseeing the competition said on Wednesday.

The jury, which is independent of the race organisers, said in a statement that Stamm had been helped when he made a pitstop in the Auckland Islands of New Zealand on December 23 to repair a broken generator.

Specifically, he breached race rules by mooring his Cheminees Poujoulat boat to a Russian scientific vessel with help from a crew member, although Stamm maintained that mooring was unavoidable because his craft was drifting and it was an emergency.

On the point of receiving assistance from a crew member of the Russian ship, he said they had come on board without him asking — and without knowing that he was participating in a solo race — to help him moor safely.

“When I saw him on board I did not find any reason that could justify to send him back from the board,” he wrote in his justification to the jury, whose decision was published on vendeeglobe.org.

Stamm has until Thursday morning to request a review of the decision. If none is forthcoming, the disqualification will come into effect, it added.

The sailor and his Cheminees Poujoulat boat were in 10th position in the race at 0800 GMT on Wednesday. French skipper Francois Gabart was in the lead, some 15.5 nautical miles (18 miles, 29 kilometres) ahead of compatriot Armel Le Cleac’h.