[killarney_sailor]

I think these boats are identical so if three of them broke after x thousands of miles the others could not be trusted so the organizers of this race/rally acted prudently. I assume that the fitting was under-speced, something I know a bit about after suffering failures with my tangs that hold up lowers.

Also splicing small diameter wire is a different thing than splicing wire (if it is wire and not rod which I suspect this is) of the size used on boats this size.

 

[killarney_sailor]

You don't need to x-ray rod to see if there is a problem. You can do it in the field with dye penetrants - fairly easy process. Now this is not the same as saying that they should be using rod rigging. I think that replacing the forestay at sea if you had roller furling would be a major undertaking with any material would be a chore, which is not the same jury-rigging with some Dyneema.