Cornwall round-world racer’s dream shattered as sail ‘explodes’

A sailor from Cornwall has suffered a major blow in the Vendee Globe round-the-world race when the mainsail on his boat “exploded”.

Sam Goodchild, 35, from Falmouth, was in fifth place in his first Vendee Globe, a non-stop race around the world, when the mainsail was ripped along its entire width, he said.

Goodchild, who had been due to cross the finish line over the weekend, said in a post on Instagram that he was “not giving up” and hoped to repair the mainsail.

“It’s completely changing my Vendee Globe, I’m just trying to get my boat back to port,” he said.

The tear happened as his yacht Vulnerable gybed (swinging a sail or boom) twice under autopilot, which controls the boat’s direction, in about 35mph (56km/h) winds off the Azores.

The mainsail was ripped from the trailing edge of the sail to the mast, he said, after the incident at about lunchtime on Monday, but a repair was “possible”.

The sailor, who has dreamed of sailing in the Vendee Globe since childhood, said was nursing his yacht back to the finish in France under two jibs (foremast sails).

“It’s a change of story and I’m not giving up,” he said.

“I’m going to think about it and try to get through it as best I can.”

Goodchild had fought his up the fleet from 10th place as they rounded Cape Horn off South America to fourth place, at one point in a ding-dong battle with French sailor Jeremie Bayou.

He is among 34 sailors left in the race after six abandonments including that of Dorset sailor Pip Hare, whose boat was dismasted.

Goodchild also nearly lost a foresail in the race when it became wrapped around a foil, an extension which lifts the hull from the water to get extra speed.

French sailor Jeremie Dalin won the race on 14 January, covering the 24,300-mile (39,100km) route in a record time of 64 days, 19 hours, 22 minutes and 49 seconds.