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Outlook: ‘I am sinking. This is not a joke. MAYDAY’

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Kevin Escoffier waves to Jean Le Cam from a rescue boat

20/01/2021 GMT

‘I am sinking. This is not a joke. MAYDAY’

BBC World Service - Outlook, ‘I am sinking. This is not a joke. MAYDAY’

Disaster struck when Kevin Escoffier’s boat split during the perilous Vendée Globe race

When Kevin Escoffier’s boat broke in half during the treacherous Vendée Globe sailing race, his competitor Jean Le Cam changed course to attempt an overnight rescue.

When skipper Kevin Escoffier’s boat broke in half during a storm during the famous Vendee Globe sailing race, he found himself drifting in a life raft, alone at sea. He sent out one text message before his phone died, it said: I am sinking. This is not a joke. MAYDAY. His competitor Jean Le Cam received his distress signal and changed course find him. But when he arrived it was getting dark and there was no sign of Kevin... 
 
Raynor Winn's life changed drastically after she and her husband Moth lost their family home and he was diagnosed with an incurable neurodegenerative disease. She tells Emily Webb why they decided to walk some 630 miles around the South West Coast Path in England and how it transformed their lives. Raynor's first book was called The Salt Path and her second one is The Wild Silence. This interview was first broadcast in November 2018.
 
Dominique Görlitz is an experimental archaeologist who builds replicas of ancient boats to prove they were seaworthy. This interview was first broadcast in October 2019.

Any comments please email us on outlook@bbc.com


Picture: Kevin Escoffier's rescue
Credit: Marine Nationale / Défense

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