Five of the fourteen IMOCA 60 competitors in the New York – Vendée (Les Sables D ‘ Olonne) race have been damaged due to a series of impacts during the first night of racing and are now on their way to Newport Shipyard.
The official website for the race, reported on the damage on Monday;
The New York – Vendée (Les Sables d’Olonne) Race presented by Currency House and SpaceCode has had a difficult first 24 hours with several leading competitors forced to make pitstops in Newport, Rhode Island following collisions with unidentified floating objects to the south of the Nantucket Shoals. This has affected conventionally-equipped older generation IMOCA 60s and the new generation foil-equipped boat alike. Read More
The race boats departed New York at 11am on Sunday, May 29th for the start of the New York Vendee – Race, the 4th leg of the IMOCA Ocean Masters World Championship 2015-2016.
The race boats arrived in IGY North Cove Marina at Brookfield Place, Downtown Manhattan on Sunday, May 22nd after racing overnight from Newport as part of the SpaceCode Newport to New York prologue race.
The 2015-16 IMOCA Ocean Masters World Championship includes Rolex Fastnet Race, Transat Jacques Vabre, Transat B2B, Transat NY-Vendée and Vendée Globe.
More info – Damage Sends Five Boats to Newport