With a performance line time (PLT) rating of .919, Cocorin has one of the highest handicaps of any sailboat in Japan. Lulu, by comparison has a PLT of .794.
A major setback for Wang, however, will be a lack of familiarity with the heavily streamlined 9m craft.
He and his freshly assembled crew had not sailed the vessel prior to arriving in Yonaguni by airplane last Friday, though they were able to practice on a similar boat in Taiwan.
But help was said to be on the way and Japanese skipper Kousei Monda was scheduled to arrive in Yonaguni yesterday in order to take command of the Lulu during the race.
RSS