At 1254hrs UTC Didac Costa decided to turn back. The Spanish skipper identified what he thought was an ingress of water and an electrical problem aboard his IMOCA One Planet One Ocean. But the incident is not as serious as he first thought.

He was escorted by a French lifeboat service boat. His team went on board and discovered that it was not as serious as first thought: a pipe from a ballast tank had come off and water had poured out.The electrical problem was a consequence of that. One Planet, One Ocean was towed into the harbour and moored up at the Vendée Globe pontoon late this afternoon.

Didac Costa: "I went below and saw that there was water inside the boat. I disconnecteed the electronics to avoid any damage and then tried to find out what was going on.. As I was close to the pontoon, the best thing to do was turn back and check things over. I’m a bit disappointed. You don’t expect that. If I had sailed further, it could have been much worse. We’re doing outr est to resolve the problems and will set off as soon as possible."

Jordi Griso, Team manager: "The ballast tank started emptying water into the boat when she heeled over.The tube had come off the tank and water got into the engine and batteries. The generator has been affected. It would take time to replace that, so we’re looking at other ideas. The technicians are returning, as they were already on their way to Barcelona. We also need to check that the water duidn’t damage anything else."