Guillemot has Safran fully ballasted with nearly 6 tonnes of water now and is determined to complete the 976 miles to Les Sables d’Olonne. He is making between 9 and 11 knots under a triple reefed mainsail and staysail and said that he will do whatever it takes to finish.

Marc Guillemot’s Vendée Globe has been the most laden with very unexpected challenges and widest spectrum of emotions of any skipper left in the race. Now the skipper from La Trinité has a massive final test, completing his race on Safran without a keel.

Guillemot’s team reported early this morning that trouble with his keel which had been bothering him since the Azores had got worse. Since yesterday the keel had been moving in the fore and aft plane and giving the skipper cause for concern. Early this morning it had slipped several centimeters down into the keel box and he was forced to try to make a fix by securing it with ropes to the mast and a winch, but early this afternoon he realized suddenly that the ropes were slack. He no longer had a keel.

In fact, Guillemot, reported on a call late this afternoon, he was prepared for this eventuality and was almost relieved that the keel had gone since it was no longer threatening to damage his hull, and he at least now knows the magnitude of his problem. Guillemot suffered keel ram trouble in the 2007 Transat B to B race and had to block his keel in place to stop it moving.

Discussions have been ongoing with with Guillaume Verdier, one of Safran’s designers, and Guillemot this afternoon reported that he is making 9-11 knots with a triple reefed main and staysail and is determined to end his incredible race. In fact he lead this Vendée Globe early on the first evening of the race but went on to slide badly into the pack when he got stuck in the wind shadow of the Canaries.

Similar to the situation with Roland Jourdain, who had to halt his race for the same reason in the Azores, which are 300 miles or so to the SW of Safran, Guillemot now believes that his keel loss is a delayed consequence of a collision he had with a sea mammal on the evening of December 17th near the Kerguelen Islands.

At the time his rudder became detached from the boat and Safran broached violently, and later reported damage to his daggerboard which he changed two days later. Then on 16th December he sustained damage to his mast track which has forced him to sail under reduced mainsail area since then, and required him to make stops first at Auckland Island on 27th December to try and affect a repair to the track, and then again after further damage on the 29th December.

He climbed the mast on 6th January, in calmer weather to try and improve the fix and then after Cape Horn, on the 14th January he stopped for five and a half hours in the Falklands Islands. Since then he has only been able to sail with two reefs.

But the most stressful period for Guillemot was when he was diverted to help the injured Yann Eliès on 18th December, standing by him until the Generali skipper was evacuated on 20th December.

Guillemot, sounding tired and stressed this evening, says he is determined to complete this race whatever place he ends up in. He now has full windward ballast tanks and says he is taking it as easily as possible. Conditions are choppy but he has around 12-13 knots of wind. He has less than 980 miles to sail.

His nearest rival for third place Sam Davies has been making good speed in brisk conditions and had caught to within seven miles of the compromised Safran. Guillemot’s primary desire is simply to finish, but he still has over two days worth of redress to his credit.

 Mark Guillemot : “ It’s an old story. You may remember near the Kerguelens I collided with a large sea mammal and went from 20-22 knots to zero. I talked to the designers a few hours later as I thought it was strange that it was a bit loose. As I passed the Azores it must have moved to the next stage. After that it was much looser and yesterday it was much worse. Based on the advice I got from Guillaume Verdier I secured it in place during the night. I managed to raise it up. It was exposed to some huge forces with 40-50 knots of wind and high seas. I could hear the keel moving from one side to the other. At 2 or 3 in the morning I was fairly pleased with the job. I had it rigged up to the winch and the keel was practically blocked from moving forwards and backwards. I wanted to give it one more turn to raise it that bit further and it was odd… I looked in the keel box and could see it had gone down as I could see the sea. Strange as it may seem, I breathed a sigh of relief ! Having that weight swinging around under the hull, you feel powerless to do anything. There is the risk of the boat being damaged. I prepared the ballast tanks and I’m back in control. I hope we don’t get any strong gales like last night.”

“ It was extremely stressful. The noise and creaking were just horrendous. This is the first time I’ve ever experienced this and it was dreadful. I have the ballast full in the bow and am under small jib with three reefs in the mainsail. So I’m sailing 10-11 knots. The sea is still quite rough, but it has eased off and I can deal with the conditions. I don’t mean to say I could cross the Atlantic like that, but I haven’t any choice there. If it gets worse I could head for Spain. I really want to finish in Les Sables d’Olonne. I’m more determined than ever. Samantha is quickly going to get ahead, but I just want to finish the race. I’m feeling exhausted as I worked all night and then again this morning. I’ve got another hour of work ahead of me tidying up the boat.