The Vendee Globe is always a lottery. Example: JP Dick lost his keel and somehow sailed home. Javier Sanso on Acciona wasn't so lucky. His Open 60 lost its keel and rolled over. Sanso took to his life raft and happily was airlifted to safety. 

His account of the capsize and rescue is here. This is what he had to say about the initial moments:

It all happened so quickly.  At around midday yesterday I was sailing upwind in around 20 knots from the NE and had just sent a report to the Race HQ giving my position and how all the energy systems were working well.  Suddenly, when on deck and about to let out a reef, there was a sudden bang that made the boat the boat shake and the boat heeled over suddenly, which threw me in the water before I could react. From the water I saw how the boat continued to heel over fast and then roll.  I was able to swim up to the transon and activate the life raft, which I got into.  I remained in the raft all afternoon and well into the evening.  I made the most of the daylight hours to try and dry out my clothes a bit.  But due to the strong swell, was unable to tie on to the boat so quickly started to drift away from her.

Since it is the 21st century, the rescue team shot a video:

Le sauvetage de Javier Sanso by VendeeGlobeTV

I know, I know. I promised to lay off this. And there are lots of other things going on (like Charlie facing off against Hurricane Sandy).

But then Oracle went and made this great video, looking in detail at the hours before and after the devastating capsize, and deconstruction, of their multi-million dollar AC72 yacht. It's pretty intense, and the awareness of how bad a blow the team has suffered is written all over everyone's faces.

So sue me. And then go watch.

UPDATE: Here's a long range video of the capsize itself. You can only imagine what it must have been like to be aboard the AC72 as the bows started going down the mine.

Oracle Team has put out their own video and photos of their AC-72 capsize.The video has some good sailing footage, which gives you a sense of the sheer power of the thing, as well as the sequence when the catamaran turned turtle (further trashing the wing). And it's got team members speaking about what happened

It’s the bear away that gets’em, and it was a bear away that got’em . . .

View more videos at: http://nbcbayarea.com.

Here is the news release from the team:

Well, it was always going to be edge of the envelope stuff. And today, in about 25 knots on San Francisco Bay, Oracle's AC-72 pitchpoled. According to tactician Tom Slingsby:

“We called for a bear-away as we were out training. The winds were blowing about 25 knots, and there was strong ebb current at the time. We started the bear-away, and as the boat accelerated it pitch-poled.

“We didn’t know what was going to happen with the new boat. When the nose went down, the wing hit and a few guys went in the water. We were unsure if the wing would snap, so we all climbed off the boat.

“Luckily, everyone is accounted for and no one was hurt. The wing is pretty badly damaged, and we are working to get the boat back in position to return to Pier 80.”

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