Second To Finish Line Of Golden Globe Race

On January 28th Mark Slats, who was the second place in the Golden Globe race, faced a penalty when he sought assistance from the Dutch team members as well as breached certain rules of satellite communication.

He was facing a dilemma at that time; there was a northwesterly storm that was headed his way and he wanted to reach the finish line at Les Sables d’Olonne for which he was hoping to run ahead of the storm clouds. The storm was about to strike the Vendee coast around the same time he was supposed to reach the finish line. His other option was to wait by the Bay of Biscay till the storm has gone past. He could have also sought refuge which is allowed as per rules of the race though he could not step ashore and neither could communicate with the world outside through radio.

He sent out a message on 28th January to the race HQ via his team manager Dick Koopmans to ask for the finish line to be moved about 50 miles offshore. HQ responded to Koopman that they had updated him about the upcoming storm and that he could proceed towards the finishing line. However, Koopmans then replied by email stating that he had consulted a meteorologist and they felt that it would be unsafe to try to sail into Bay of Biscay with the approaching storm. To this, the race chairman responded that Slats or his manager should not try to communicate with each other when the race HQ was there to respond to any queries that Slats might have.

With such happenings, Mark has received some penalty points before he could reach the finishing line. Meanwhile Jean-Luc as lucky to reach the finishing line in good weather and celebrate his victory.

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