Eighteen of the original thirty competitors in the Vendee Globe have withdrawn from the race, many for technical reasons. On Monday, the IMOCA class organization said the boats need to become more reliable.
From The Age:
At the weekend, British sailor Mike Golding, one of those forced to abandon his challenge, questioned the safety of the new-generation racing boats.
Golding, whose boat Ecover 3 was dismasted in the Southern Ocean only hours after taking the lead in the 27,000-mile race, was furious at the keel problems experienced by several competitors.
“Engineers have a lot of questions to answer, and the designers,” the 48-year-old skipper said, quoted by the Sunday Times newspaper.
