Alexis Thomas has pulled out of the Route du Rhum after reporting rudder damage aboard his Class40, AfterData-Elcia n°210.
The skipper notified race direction of the problem at 8.08pm. At the time he was sitting in 32nd place, roughly 500 nautical miles off the Breton coast.
Thomas is safe and plans to make for the Spanish coast, where he will assess the damage and begin repairs.
He becomes the latest skipper to exit this edition of the race, following Fabien Delahaye, whose Class40 campaign ended after an ankle injury on a pitching foredeck, and Matthieu Perraut, whose Ocean Fifty Elvest capsized north of the Azores.
