SOUTHAMPTON’S Sam Goodchild has had to abandon hopes of winning the Transat Jacques Vabre, after his boat suffered hull damage this morning.

Goodchild and Ned Collier-Wakefield had just taken the lead in the Class 40 category, but suffered what was described as a “delamination” problem.

The Concise 2 pair had moved to the front of the pack, having been in second since the biennial race from Le Havre to Costa Rica started last Wednesday.

But they have now diverted and are heading for the Azores.

“We are pretty devastated to say the least,” said Goodchild, 21.

“It makes it worse that we had just taken the lead, but on the other hand we leave the race course with our heads high in that we feel we have sailed a pretty good race and proven ourselves competitive.”

Fellow Hampshire sailor Alex Thomson, from Gosport, is third in the IMOCA category, on the Hugo Boss boat, while Warsash’s Mike Golding is lying seventh, on Gamesa.