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.