Skipper Jeremie Beyou pulls out of around-the-world yacht race

LES SABLES D'OLONNE, France (AP) -- Jeremie Beyou has dropped out of the Vendee Globe solo around-the-world yacht race, becoming the fifth of 20 participating skippers to abandon the event.

The Frenchman moored his Maitre Coq yacht on the Cap Vert islands off the Senegal coast to assess the damage to his broken keel. He realized he could not continue without outside assistance and had to pull out Monday.

Rigging problems forced Beyou to abandon the race four years ago.

Skippers circle the three great capes: Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn, the southernmost tips of Africa, Australia and the Americas.

British skipper Samantha Davies dropped out earlier in the race, as did Frenchmen Louis Burton, Kito de Pavant and Marc Guillemot.

Two-time winner Michel Desjoyeaux is not competing this year.