Before the furies of the Bay of Biscay had even whipped themselves into the expected frenzy, the first of the 30 solo skippers was forced to return to port, only two hours and three minutes after the noon start of the sixth Vendée Globe race yesterday.

Forty-five knots of wind, waves of at least 15 to 20 feet and boat breakages are forecast for today and Dominique Wavre, the veteran Swiss sailor on Temenos II, should still feel the gale force. Wavre, who finished fourth in the previous Vendée Globe race and fifth in the one before that, was back here in Les Sables d’Olonne by sunset after only 17 miles of the 26,000-mile round-the-world race.

The Vendée Globe is a non-stop race, but competitors are allowed ten days from the start time to return to Les Sables, make repairs and head back out. Wavre set out again late last night after replacing the power management box, which had been freshly installed two weeks ago.

A bigger problem was lurking in the night, though, and the curse of the French fishing boat struck again. Alex Thomson only just made it to the start line after Hugo Boss was hit by a fishing boat three weeks ago while waiting to enter the port. This time it is a double Swiss whammy because Bernard Stamm, the winner of the Velux 5 Oceans race, was limping back to port on Cheminees Poujoulat last night.

In the morning the boats had filed out of the harbour after emotional send-offs. “You can’t help but feel like a condemned man walking down the dock as everyone’s being so nice to you,” Mike Golding, on Ecover 3, said.

The Vendée is a marathon that begins with a sprint and Golding, who was third in the previous race and eager to gain a psychological edge, was the first to cross the line. Unfortunately, he had badly misjudged it and was four seconds early. He had to tack round and restart and lost at least a mile and a half.

The competitors headed out on a port tack into a 12-knot breeze and a British-built and sponsored boat took the early lead. BT, skippered by Sébastien Josse, of France, was built by Offshore Challenges, Dame Ellen MacArthur’s company, in Cowes.

Michel Desjoyeaux, the Frenchman who won in 2000-01 and the favourite this year, was at the centre of controversy last night. The Times has learnt that Foncia, his new boat, had been denied a certificate by the IMOCA, the class association for Open 60 boats. A row with the race organisers has been rumbling on secretly for three weeks.

Desjoyeaux has devised a clever pully method of adjusting his spinnaker and Rene Boulaire, the IMOCA’s chief measurer, judged it illegal. But organisers said that there is no chance of an appeal against Foncia if Desjoyeaux wins because the international race jury has confirmed the boat.

Where does that leave the IMOCA and would it now issue a certificate? “That is a question for IMOCA,” Christophe Bouchet, the communications manager, said. But the IMOCA would not comment when contacted yesterday. Wavre, the acting president, might normally have ruled, but he had his hands full.

Numbers game

26,714 Miles covered by Vincent Riou on PRB in winning in 2004-05

47 Amount of porridge in kilos that Steve White has loaded on to Toe in the Water

55 Percentage of starters who have finished in the five previous races

2 Number of sailors who have died during the previous races

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