Sailing: "We'll try not to hit it"... Two skippers in the Transat Paprec cross paths with a military submarine

While racing, Julie Simon and Davy Beaudart (Hellowork) spotted a submarine a few hundred meters away from them on April 23, off the coast of Portugal.

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An unexpected encounter, to say the least. On the fourth day of the Transat Paprec , which links Concarneau (Finistère) to Saint-Barthélemy (Caribbean), the sailing duo Julie Simon and Davy Beaudart (Hellowork) spotted a submarine on the surface, just a few hundred meters from their boat, off the coast of Portugal, on Wednesday, April 23.

"It's a submarine," exclaimed skipper Davy Beaudart, who filmed the military vessel on video. While Julie Simon was at the helm, the sailor woke her partner from his nap to let him enjoy the spectacle.

"It's rare, it's the first time I've seen one so close. We have to avoid it because we're on a collision course with it [its initial heading was in the direction of the submarine, without changing course, there's a risk of collision]. In the manuals, there's no submarine, so we'll have to find a way. We'll try not to hit it," reacted Davy Beaudart, who admitted to "being a little scared."

After enjoying the spectacle for a few seconds, the two skippers wanted to maneuver to avoid the submarine, especially since contact with the military vessel was impossible. But at the same time, "it went in the other direction," Julie Simon told Le Parisien . The two sailors were thus able to resume their race. They are currently in 6th place in the provisional ranking, 15 miles behind the leaders Alexis Thomas and Pauline Courtois (Wings of the Ocean).