Historically, the Vendee Globe has had its measure of drama, but none more so, unfortunately, than the present race. The last month has been hell, both physically and emotionally, for the fleet of single-handed sailors as it has battled with extreme conditions and the dramatically high toll of damage and rescue operations. Raphael Dinelli, Pete Goss, Thierry Dubois, Tony Bullimore and Gerry Roufs have all become household names as news of their disappearances and rescues have made front page headlines across the globe; and while the general public have exclaimed in wonder at both the adventure and the life-saving operations, for those more involved there are serious questions to be answered once the race has finished and the information dissected.

Until that time it would be reckless to comment or draw conclusions, but various organizations — including the Minister of Sport, Territories and Local Government from Parliament House, Australia, whose navy was dispatched to rescue both Dubois and Bullimore — are demanding answers and reassurances. From a sailing perspective, the sport needs the Vendee Globe; it is a purist marathon which tests both the skill and endurance of the skippers and promotes technical innovation and testing like no other event.

That said, however, and with less than half of the competitors still in the race, a certain level of policing, whether it be self or enforced, is, perhaps, necessary.

It was Raphael Dinelli (situated at 50S, 100E, 1,200 miles southwest of Australia) who, on Christmas Day, was the first skipper to set off his distress beacon after gusts of up to 70 knots knocked down Algimouss twice, causing substantial damage. Attempts by race headquarters to contact Patrick de Radigues (82 miles away) proved futile, and Pete Goss (150 miles away) was telexed with the request to divert towards Dinelli; meanwhile an aircraft flew over Dinelli, dropping a life raft to the sinking boat. At the time Goss was experiencing his own difficulties in 60-knot winds and vicious seas but managed to turn the boat around to begin a traumatic beat back towards Dinelli. In breaking seas, which caused continuous knock-downs, Goss closed in on Dinelli, who by then had abandoned his sinking boat and was in his life raft. After two arduous days Goss arrived in the area and, working with an Australian aircraft that guided him, successfully rescued Dinelli, taking him on board Aqua Quorum, and began his new course to Hobart.

Meanwhile, as Christophe Auguin continued to extend his lead, the conditions — ferocious 60 to 75 knots — continued to play havoc with the rest of the skippers, with Tony Bullimore (Exide Challenger) and Thierry Dubois (Pour Amnesty International) suffering most at the back of the fleet, 10 miles apart from each other, 5,000 miles off the leader and 1,500 miles southwest of Perth. The wind and violent seas proved too much, and on January 5 both skippers set of their SOS beacons. (Both had experienced problems earlier in the race: Bullimore had returned to Les Sables d'Olonne to mend electronics, while Dubois had stopped in Cape Town to repair a broken rudder, and consequently was not officially racing.)

An Australian aircraft was immediately dispatched to survey the scene, reporting that while Dubois was on his upturned hull there was no sight of Bullimore on or around his capsized boat, which was missing its keel. The two skippers were lying too far behind the main fleet for any of the competitors to turn back, and so the Australian frigate Adelaide, with Seahawk helicopters onboard, left Perth on a rescue mission early on January 6. While the world's newspapers and television stations kicked into action with an uncharacteristic interest in the rescues (exclaiming concern for the "missing" Bullimore, and showing Dubois hanging onto his bull), the remaining bad weather did not help the rescue mission. Eventually, on January 9 — and under the gaze of the television cameras — both Dubois and Bullimore were rescued: Dubois suffering from mild hypothermia from prolonged exposure — more than three days — to freezing salt water, and Bullimore suffering from frostbite after spending his three days in the safest place possible: his inverted hull.

Dubois' Joubert/Nivelt Pour Amnesty International, ex-TBS Charente Maritime, built in 1989 for the first edition of the Vendee Globe, was sailing bare-poled in a severe storm when a deep roaring wave smashed the hull upside down. Pour Amnesty righted quickly, but the carbon mast was broken into three pieces. Dubois succeeded in clearing the deck, but while waiting inside for better weather before he began to fix a jury rig he was hit by another big wave. He activated the second Argos beacon — the first was no longer attached to the boat — and when the boat capsized for the third time, donned his survival suit and waited for the boat to right. It never happened. As water started to fill the boat Dubois opted to get out, taking his distress EPIRBs with him, so they could be clearly heard, and a life raft.

Unfortunately for Dubois, the rope attaching the life raft to Pour Amnesty International broke ... he was lucky that an aircraft arrived in under two hours, dropping another life raft and survival items.

Dubois then had further difficulty attaching this life raft, and swam for 30 minutes in freezing water: "I was thinking my life would stop any minute," he said. Finally he succeeded and was rescued by a Seahawk helicopter two days later.

The reason why the aircraft got to Pour Amnesty International so quickly was that it was already responding to the distress call sent by Bullimore some hours earlier. Bullimore had been inside drinking a cup of tea when he heard a crack and at the same time felt the boat roll over. Thanks to Exide Challenger's freeboard, Bullimore was able to locate a shelf, above the level of the sea which was now inside the boat; there he was able to wait for rescue in relative dryness. The Argos EPIRB had worked well, despite the fact it was transmitting from inside a carbon hull. Bullimore's major concern, however, was that by not being outside his boat any rescuer might believe he was no longer alive. However, sonar devices dropped around the hull by an aircraft had picked up a light tapping noise that kept hopes alive.

When HMS Adelaide arrived on the scene, Captain Gates launched an inflatable boat with crew, which heard a welcome sound inside of the hull when it tapped on the boat. Within a matter of minutes Bullimore swam out alongside the boat, was rescued, and then invited to join Dubois on board Adelaide.

With three happy endings to three rescues in just 10 days, another bout of bad news was about to hit fleet: Gerry Roufs on board Groupe LG had been out of communication since January 7 and the organizers were concerned for his safety. At his last message he was lying second, at mid-distance between New Zealand and Cape Horn, a long way behind Christophe Auguin and miles ahead of the chasing boats. Philippe Jeantot requested that Roufs' closest rivals keep a look out for him and that Isabelle Autissier, who had recovered most of the distance on Roufs after her stop at Cape Town to repair rudder damage, head towards Roufs' last known course, some 150 miles eastwards. Once again, the west winds were blowing hard and Autissier, who had to wait some hours before she could change course, had a difficult time sailing against high winds and vicious seas, sailing without main and large jib after she broke her halyards.

With this in mind, CROSS Etel, the French MRCC, felt it was no longer safe for Autissier to continue and instructed her to return to her normal course, towards Cape Horn. Meanwhile, Marc Thiercelin, Bertrand de Broc and Herve Laurent, lying third, fourth and fifth respectively, were making towards Roufs' last known position. Thiercelin, a great friend of Roufs, spent more than a day searching a huge area until, by now totally exhausted, he was instructed to sail on, while the trade ship Mass Enterprise diverted and spent three days looking — both to no avail.

And then, more than 10 days after the disappearance, on January 18, a glimmer of hope was sparked. A Chilean aircraft reported that, in mild visibility, it spotted an object just off Cape Horn and requested, by SSB radio, that the vessel declare its identity. The airmen were convinced that they heard the response "Groupe Lima Golf" in the few seconds they had radio contact. At the time of writing, no further contact had been made at what was possibly weak SSB range, and the big question still remains: where is Gerry Roufs? Ironically, the kind of question that nobody would have been asking 15 years ago when the tracking device, the Argos beacon, did not exist. Should the aircraft had heard correctly, however, Roufs should have passed Cape Horn by now and be sailing near the Falkland Islands and en route to Les Sables d'Olonne, where it is hoped he will make an amazing arrival.

Meanwhile, back to the race ... Christophe Auguin rounded the Horn on January 8, eight days ahead of Titouan Lamazou's record run, set in the first Vendee Globe, and over 1,600 miles ahead of his closest know rival, Herve Laurent on Groupe LG Traitmat, in the absence of Roufs, second at his last communication. Auguin is currently on pace to reach the finish at Les Sables d'Olonne in under 100 days, nine days faster than Lamazou.

Behind Auguin the fleet resembles a "salvage" voyage. Among the 16 boats which started, only seven officially remain in the race, excluding Roufs' Groupe LG. Of those seven, three have lost time in the search for Roufs (Credit Immobilier, Votre Nom Autour du Monde and Traitmat) and will be awarded a time credit, not to mention Goss's Aqua Quorum, which had to divert to Hobart to drop Dinelli off. Three boats are still at sea but are not officially racing: Autissier's PRB (passed Cape Horn eight days after Auguin), Yves Parlier's Aquitaine Innovations and Patrick de Radigues' Afibel. Two boats, Didier Munduteguy's Club (the ex-Enif) and Nandor Fa's Budapest abandoned the race shortly after the start. Three boats were abandoned by their skippers: Dinelli's Algimouss, Bullimore's Exide Challenger and Dubois' Pour Amnesty International.