Vincent Riou has withdrawn from the Route du Rhum, Destination Guadeloupe, ending his campaign aboard the Class40 Pierreval - Fondation GoodPlanet.
The French skipper had already been dealt a setback earlier in the race, forced into La Coruña, Spain, after his boat suffered damage. Repairs were made and the Class40 was seaworthy again.
But Riou won't be heading back out.
A significant depression is forecast to sweep across the Atlantic in the coming days, and the skipper judged the risk of pushing on alone through that system too great, especially given how little he stood to gain by finishing so far behind the leaders. It's the same volatile Atlantic that has shaped much of this edition's story, with the fleet already caught between calms and chaos further south. It has claimed other casualties too, among them Ambrogio Beccaria's retirement after a heavy cockpit fall and Erwan Le Draoulec's shoulder injury near the Azores.
"To finish four or five days after the leaders, taking that much risk crossing the Atlantic solo, I decided the risk wasn't worth it," Riou said.
It's a pragmatic call from an experienced campaigner, and a reminder of how solo sailors in this fleet weigh risk against reward once the podium fight is out of reach.
