Vendee Globe

Ouch! Think that's the pic a lot of folk wanted to see... Presumably its been pulled in until the stump was flush. Fairly boggling to think how much strength there must be in the surrounding structure when you consider what sort of a mess the typical dinghy daggerboard case would be in after an impact capable of causing that sort of damage to the foil...

Originally posted by Sam.Spoons Well, they don't go rusty for starters..... And no paint to flake off (as such, they seem to have a fair few logos etc). Structurally an old steel boat would be unlikely to break though. Congrats to both Armel LeCleach and Alex Thomson. Shame Alex broke that foil, it would have been even more of a race....

There are quite a lot of rust stains on the inside of Armels cockpit, loads of fluffy ropes and some of the stay protection has worn away too. But as people have said, not bad for a full trip around the planet!

Pretty sure he will be happier with 2nd than Armel would have been had he been caught at the end.

... it would have been a completely different race.

Congrats to Armel LeCleach

Something that struck me, I remember when boats that finished round the world races were rust streaked wrecks, or looked that way... Now we see photos of a boat that superficially looks good to just keep on going. OK its been out there a fraction of the time, but its also hit the waves a lot harder.Thought it was an interesting illustration of what modern materials have done for us in reducing maintenance...