Yachting: Solo fleet dwindles to 16

The Vendee Globe solo round-the-world yacht race has turned into a battle for survival as nearly half of the fleet has quit the race.

Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) has led for 14 consecutive days and Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement) is 93km behind him.

But only 16 of the original 30 yachts that set out from the west coast of France in November are still racing.

French skipper Sebastien Josse was yesterday limping back to Auckland after being knocked down under a breaking wave in 60 knots (110km/h) of wind about 1600km east-southeast of Wellington on Boxing Day.

He tried to continue but yesterday decided to abandon his effort.

The New Zealand-designed Ecover III was one of three yachts to abandon the race and be helped back to safety by the Australian Navy.

Frenchman Yann Elies was rescued off his yacht Generali and taken back to Fremantle after breaking his leg. Generali is now considered lost at sea after its positioning beacon stopped transmitting.

Canadian Derek Hatfield is heading to Hobart after going under a similar wave to that which hit Josse.

- NZPA