New York Vendée: The North Atlantic shows toughness, Sam Goodchild suffers mast breakage

Sam Goodchild had already predicted a day and a half ago that it wouldn't be a walk in the park. In a brief interview on Wednesday evening, he referred to a small low-pressure vortex that would hit the field of Charlie Dalin and Boris Herrmann's pursuers south-east of the Azores. Goodchild's assessment: "It's going to be uncomfortable, to say the least".

And that's how it happened! Jérémie Beyou had it written all over his face just how rough the modern foilers are when they are sailing on a sharp half-wind course in a good 25 knots of wind. He looked haggard and extremely tense as he filmed on his smartphone how he was thrown around in the cockpit when he passed the Brit yesterday afternoon.

Sam Goodchild is the first to have to abandon the New York Vendée

Goodchild's 2019 Imoca, the former "LinkedOut" of his team boss Thomas Ruyant, who sailed almost equally, is now called "Vulnerable". Shortly after 5 p.m., the unusual name, which also appears on Ruyant's new Finot/Koch design, took on a proverbial meaning. Without warning, the wing mast buckled at a speed of around 16 knots.

For Sam Goodchild, who like the other skippers also feels the exhaustion of this New York Vendée, the following hours must have been brutal, both mentally and physically. The effort alone of securing the rigging, boat and sails in a swell of a good two metres is almost inhuman. Even with a crew of four, as in The Ocean Race, it felt like it took forever to cut through shrouds and stays and collect hundreds of square metres of cloth. How much strength and how much more time must it take to do it alone?

In a video two hours later, the "Vulnerable" skipper thanked all those who had sent him encouragement on their mobile phones after the news, especially his team. He seemed composed, but his voice broke towards the end. The fact that there are no pictures yet is because Sam needed to recover first. He wants to set up an emergency rig as soon as possible and head for the Azores island of Santa Maria, which he had only passed 24 hours ago. After all, his qualification for the Vendée Globe is not jeopardised. He had already secured this shortly beforehand.

Charlie Dalin's victory at the New York Vendée is practically unassailable

Meanwhile, front runner Charlie Dalin can manage his risk. He knows that he is no longer in danger from the southern group; his lead over Jérémie Beyou was 300 nautical miles this morning - with only 600 miles to go to Les Sables d'Olonne. He is expected there on Saturday evening.

• to the live tracker

The "Macif" skipper is only one or two tacks away from the final approach. Because the wind is shifting to the left, he can pick up speed again towards the end when he plays to the strength of his Verdier design in half the wind. "I've been sailing the race against myself for a while now, trying to beat my routing," he said in an interview with the organisers.

Nevertheless, he always keeps an eye on the competition, especially Boris Herrmann on "Malizia - Seaexplorer". He will have "pretty tough conditions" right up to the finish, believes Charlie Dalin. "That will be interesting. I'm following him closely." The skipper from Le Havre sees Boris in second place and, according to his latest calculations, he will be west of Brest when he himself arrives in Les Sables d'Olonne - if nothing intervenes.

Boris Herrmann advances and has 2nd place in his sights

Boris now takes a similar view. He expects to finish on Sunday afternoon or early evening, he said yesterday. "I'm optimistic for second place. According to my Adrena routes, I'm comfortably ahead of the group in the south, so I'm quite confident and that feels good. I'm quite isolated though and it would be much nicer to have boats around me.

It was a bit difficult for me at the beginning when I had to make my choice and the weather models were very uncertain. But I've come to terms with the situation, I'm here and I'm doing my thing. I'm doing well. I have the opportunity to gybe and that will be the game for me until the finish, gybing several times - three times, maybe five times or more, plus a few sail changes."

Go to the live tracker with hourly position updates here!