Artemis II, the Open 60 yacht in which Johnny Malbon was sailing. (Picture by PA News)
THE Lt-Governor’s son has been forced to retire from the Vendee Globe single-handed round-the-world yacht race.
A metre-long tear in the mainsail on his Open 60 Artemis II forced 34-year-old Jonny Malbon to give up when he was about 300 miles south of New Zealand’s South Island.
He had struggled with the sail, which is made from carbon and Kevlar, the fabric used to make bulletproof vests, for nearly three weeks and decided to retire when a tear developed over the weekend.
‘It’s getting worse and worse and worse,’ he said.
‘I simply cannot repair that sort of damage. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I don’t have enough materials or glue or I haven’t got enough hands’.
Under the rules of the race he would not have been allowed to enter port to repair the damage or to receive outside assistance.
‘The thing with this is that I could carry on for a bit but it is only a matter of time,’ he told the Artemis Ocean Racing website.
‘It is no longer if but when the mainsail will just disintegrate completely, so heading out past New Zealand back into the Southern Ocean is just not feasible.
‘My heart is telling me to go on, but my head is telling me I have to stop and in the end it is true – I have no choice. Words cannot describe my disappointment that this has come to an end.’
Writing on his own page on Twitter, he wrote yesterday: “Gutted – its all over … For now … 1,000 miles to Auckland, can’t quite believe it.’
It was the first time he had tackled such a daunting event.
He was the 16th sailor to abandon the race, leaving only 14 yachts in the competition.
Artemis had also suffered rudder damage after colliding with a whale earlier in the race.
Malbon is heading north towards Auckland, a journey of about 1,000 miles, where Artemis will be loaded onto a ship and returned to England.
Article posted on 5th January, 2009 - 2.30pm
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