Quote:
Originally Posted by flyingwelshman
Not to diminish their efforts to help a fellow sailor, but, according to the Vendée site they will not be penalized for the time spent assisting. A jury will also evaluate the other competitors to give them credit for any delays that result from this incident.
Go Algimouss Spirit of Canada and Derek Hatfield!
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True, they will get credit for staying back.. but still that's a difficult thing to quantify in the scheme of the "race" itself. I find it compelling that more than one competitor is able to divert to his aid, however tenuous that aid might be in actuality, it's certainly got to be some moral support. I believe this sort of camaradarie between opponents is quite rare in the world of pro sports.
We've all heard the rants of the costs of rescue - but I agree with Val here that the Navy likely prefers an active assignment over mind-numbing drills. And setting the "ocean-singlehanding-is-dangerous-and-even-illegal" debate aside, these are not boats that set out with inexperienced skippers and poorly found vessels that have gotten themselves into predictable predicaments.
Hopefully a rescue will be affected successfully - this race has already had its share of drama and is turning into a bit of a demolition derby.
And indeed... go Derek go!