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.