Currently lying in 18th position in the Vendée Globe, Jonny Malbon on Artemis has hit a whale. He wrote: “At approx 1236 UTC today I hit a large animal, probably a whale at 15 knots. The boat stopped dead in the water, and remained there for about a minute until the animal released itself from the daggerboard. I was under 1 reef and Jibtop at the time.

“Once we had broken free, we sailed off very quickly, but I could clearly see the animal astern in a lot of trouble. I have some serious damage to my starboard daggerboard, but the boat is fine and the structure surrounding the daggerboard is intact. We have not taken on any water. I will be continuing to race, and will monitor the condition of both the board and the boat.”