We hope @TeamHolcimPRB will soon recover from this dismasting. Just four days after waving goodbye to fans, friends and family in Itajaí, Brazil, Kevin Escoffier's team reported their dismasting just after 0500 UTC (0200 local time) on Thursday 27th April.

Racing approximately 20 nautical miles off Brazilian coast in moderate winds and sea state, it is currently unclear how the incident occurred.

The French skipper Kevin Escoffier confirmed his crew was safe following the event - but the incident will undoubtedly have shaken the team.

Team Holcim-PRB was leading Leg 4 as well as the overall competition, 9 nautical miles ahead of their competitors @11thhourracingteam83 at the time of the incident.

Team Holcim-PRB is now showing on the tracker to have suspended racing, and is drifting back towards land past the rest of the fleet.

The IMOCA Holcim-PRB is heading for Rio de Janeiro under jury rig to install a new mast and attempt to rejoin this fourth leg.

It is a stark reminder that anything can happen in one of the toughest sporting events on the planet.

Leg 4 sends the fleet to the northern hemisphere with a challenging 5,550-nautical mile race from Itajaí to Newport on the eastern coast of the USA.

The race to #Newport is expected to arrive around May 10th and nearly 60% of the overall points still available for the remaining boats.

@polaRYSE / @TeamHolcimPRB

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