Two of the Route du Rhum race organising team have died at the finish in Guadeloupe today following a 'tragic accident' involving a motorboat.
The accident happened as the first boat was finishing the 12th edition of the race.
The company says both of the fatalities were employees of OC Sport Pen Duick, the company which organises the four-yearly transatlantic sailing race from Saint-Malo to Guadeloupe.
Circumstances are not fully known, Some early local reports say the motorboat was a charter vessel carrying VIPs.
In a statement issued this afternoon, titled: 'An organisation in mourning', the organisers say:
"This Wednesday morning, November 16, as the first boat was finishing the 12th Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe in Guadeloupe’s bay of Pointe-à-Pitre, a motor boat which was carrying 11 people capsized.
The circumstances surrounding the accident are still undetermined, but it caused the tragic deaths of two people who were on board, both employees of OC Sport Pen Duick, the company which organises the four-yearly transatlantic sailing race from Saint-Malo to Gaudeloupe.
“All our thoughts go out to the families of our two employees and to all of the profoundly affected members of our teams,” said Hervé Favre, President of OC Sport Pen Duick.
OC Sport Pen Duick’s teams, the main partners of the event – the Regional Council of Guadeloupe, the city of Saint-Malo and Saint-Malo Agglomeration, Brittany Region, the CIC – and all the stakeholders of the organisation, share the immense pain of the families and send them their deepest and sincere condolences".
OC Sport Pen Duick is the French subsidiary of the OC Sport group, which primarily runs offshore racing events. The company was created to manage the sports campaigns of Eric Tabarly and Dame Ellen MacArthur, pioneers of offshore sailing.
