"Right On" to all your points, Rick. I even made the one about sailing around the bad weather myself a year ago or more as "bl**dy Yank" on the TP BB.
<br>My point is, to a layman, or, more importantly, in the eyes of some bean counter in the marketing dept. of a major corporation like Philips, considering whether to sponsor another Goss (miss?)adventure, Goss' troubles seem spectacular. In the light of his fellow Race competitor's various meltdowns, (all, as you point out, ascribable to different causes) the sheer scale of Goss' disaster is less unique.
<br>To slip up on a construction technique, which in turn cascades into a variety of 'short-schedule' consequences, culminating in total loss, seems less shocking when TA, a "three-off" was imperfectly ready for her challenges; (CM, too, although they remedied their shortcomings prior to the race, if memory serves) PS - with far more time available to her than Goss lost on his bow - still wasn't prepared, and older, well-worked up Bullimor's boat hadda stop in Gib for 3 days.
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<br>Incidentally, AT's "ball-and-socket" mast foot, which he was quoted to claim was 'modeled on nature' was a complete botch, and the reinforcements installed after it's failure may or may not have been sufficient to prolong it's (IMHO inevitable) second failure untill after 24,000 miles of The Race.
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<br>Regards,
<br>Ed<br><br>