The final few nautical miles of the popular Vendee Globe around the world nonstop race look to be a treacherous path for the racers. After more than 90 days of sailing all over the world, the finish line for many sailors look near, but they feel that it is far off. The rough weathers and the damage to the mast are causing a lot of problems for the sailors.

The French skipper of the CommeUnSeulHomme, Eric Bellion, has suffered a serious damage to his mast track. This happened when his boat was caught in a big storm over 70 knots on February 10 and 11. He is a first timer at the Vendee Globe race and he was in a very good position to finish the race in the 9th position. But, because of the damage to his mast, he had to drop his mainsail. He will be completing the final 450 miles of the race with just three reefs in the mainsail.

Bellion had informed his team on a Croatian Yacht Charter that he had real issues getting his mainsail hoisted when he was about 100 nautical miles North West of Cape Finistere. With the kind of trouble that his mainsail and the mast are giving him, it looks like Bellion will only finish at the Les Sables d’Olonne not earlier than Tuesday night (14th February). He will be facing upwind conditions for at least 24 hours from now on.

Bellion said that he heard a string noise come from the top of the mainsail. He also had to face the upward wind that started to push up and was gusting at 40 knots. This is why he put back in the third reef. He then realized that the top of the mainsail was not attached to the mast. He is fully aware that the last few miles are going to be really tough, but he is determined that he will not allow it to get the better of him.