KEY POINTS:
Rescuing his new Kiwi-built boat from being turned upside down in the Viaduct Harbour has left British solo sailor Mike Golding confident of winning a gruelling round-the-world yacht race.
His eight-tonne Open 60 boat, named Ecover 3 for his planned third attempt next year in the non-stop Vendee Globe race, was deliberately capsized by a crane as he and Martin Carter of Wellington-based Hakes Marine were left sealed in its cabin.
From there, Golding managed to manipulate the keel to turn the boat back from its 180-degree flip, satisfying a safety requirement demanded of all Vendee Globe contestants after some notable failures in round-the-world races.
He admitted yesterday that turning turtle, even under test conditions, was "very disconcerting" but said it had left him comfortable with the seaworthiness of his new craft - his second to have been built in New Zealand.
The first version, Ecover 2, survived a similar test but lost its keel just 50 nautical miles (90km) from the finish line of the previous 24,000nm Vendee Globe race. That did not stop him finishing in third place. The next race starts in France in November next year.
Golding, 46, captured global headlines last year after rescuing a fellow solo competitor from a stricken craft deep in the Southern Ocean in 4.5m swells and against bitterly cold 25-knot winds.
