The British crew of Team Mowgli reports a catastrophic bowsprit failure late Saturday night in the Tasman sea.
From BYM news:
In the middle of the night with about 25 knots of wind with two reefs in the main and the fractional spinnaker up, we went into another broach. The fitting that holds the bowsprit onto the foredeck of the boat exploded. This is NOT meant to happen!!” With the bowsprit flailing around the bow of Team Mowgli, the two British yachtsmen leapt to the foredeck in pitch darkness and dropped the spinnaker before the carnage escalated. “We eventually managed to get the spinnaker down, but not without some damage and the sheets getting caught around the rudders,” confirmed Salvesen.