Sailing Logic Blog
Tuesday, 2 September 2008
RORC Madeira-Cowes Race Report No 10: A tale of two Ushants.....
In 2005, Sailing Logic declared that we were never going to sail in or around the Bristol Channel ever again, after experiencing the worst tides and conditions that we had ever sailed in on our little 38 foot yachts, whilst trying to take a group of novice sailors to the Ireland and back. Force 9's on the nose and an equinox tide made the Bristol Channel particularly inhospitable.....Philippe, Dave L and Mike to this day still have not been back. Early this morning (1am to be exact) Philippe declared that Ushant was to be held in the same regard as it came back to bite them again for a second time 'Never again' he declared, 'am I going round this piece of rock and water'....this being declared after the yacht experienced large following seas.
In 2005, Sailing Logic declared that we were never going to sail in or around the Bristol Channel ever again, after experiencing the worst tides and conditions that we had ever sailed in on our little 38 foot yachts, whilst trying to take a group of novice sailors to the Ireland and back. Force 9's on the nose and an equinox tide made the Bristol Channel particularly inhospitable.....Philippe, Dave L and Mike to this day still have not been back. Early this morning (1am to be exact) Philippe declared that Ushant was to be held in the same regard as it came back to bite them again for a second time 'Never again' he declared, 'am I going round this piece of rock and water'....this being declared after the yacht experienced large following seas.
You might think, well that's not too bad, wind and water coming from behind them, much better than when they were going to madeira... however there is a little 'but'. Puma had gone back into superior stealth mode after a battery switch was left on in the wrong position, meaning they had no batteries, which means no engine to start to charge them, which also meant, no lights, no navigation instruments, no vhf communication, in fact absolutely nothing. A pitch back night with rain squalls, huge seas and the yacht hurtling down them reaching nearly 20 knots...yes, I mean that....nearly 20 knots.
With all this going on you can forgive them for being a little tired this morning but also very relieved to see day break and at least have a chance of seeing what they are doing. Whilst all this was happening during the night, they had a poled out No 3 headsail and 1 reef in the main, when disaster struck on the bow and one of the ropes holding the pole in place snapped, leaving skipper and mate scratching their heads to think of a way of retrieving the situation whilst hurtling towards Ushant directly at breakneck speed, with no deck light to work with, only a torch with its batteries running out. And they are still racing.......
This morning we think they have lost a little bit of time to Pen Azen, but it is still incredibly close on handicap. We will be getting updates periodically through the day and will post these on the website blog as and when we hear fron the yacht. Unfortunately they won;t be able to receive any of your messages today but we will print any out for them and pass them over once they have finished. ETA in Cowes at the moment is approx. 0200-0400 Wed am....