HEXAGON
AND OCEAN PLANET BREAK BOOMS
21 February 2003, in the pitch dark of the Southern
Ocean 900 miles from Cape Horn, Hexagon skipper
Graham Dalton, currently lying 3rd in Leg 4 of
Around Alone, reported that his boom had snapped
during a gybe. A disappointed, but determined
skipper immediately dropped the mainsail and secured
the broken boom as best as possible in the prevailing
darkness in this part of the ocean. Despite losing
use of his mainsail, Hexagon is still making good
progress at 16 knots in the 40 knots winds under
her solent jib, and makeshift plans are underway
to potentially re-enable sailing under her mainsail.
Over
his satellite phone, Dalton has arranged for a
repair mission to take place over the next 30
to 40 hours. A carbon fibre sleeve, essentially
a splint', is currently being built in New Zealand
and this will be riveted and glued onto the existing
boom to pull it back together. Richard Bearda,
Hexagon's shore manager, commented, "Dave
Peterson and I will be in Argentina 24 hours from
now where we will rendezvous with Graham at Cape
Horn. Our aim is to affect the repair in under
12 hours. We know we can fix the boom, but our
biggest concern is getting the glue to dry as
conditions out there are very cold and wet."
The
wind is expected to pick up over the next 24 hours,
but as Hexagon is sailing downwind, this is not
considered to be a major problem. The crew aim
to complete the repair ahead of the next low pressure
system due into Cape Horn the middle of next week.
Dalton continues to keep in constant communication
with his shore crew and the Around Alone race
office.
Not
long after this news came in American skipper
Bruce Schwab, currently lying in 5th place in
Leg 4, reported at 07:56hrs GMT that whilst he
was taking a nap Ocean Planet was laid out by
a big breaking wave, which lead to a disastrous
sequence of events for the Tom Wylie designed
boat - and his second boom break in this race
after Ocean Planet's boom broke midway across
the Atlantic in Leg 1.
His
log explains what happened to his Open 60, which
has an unstayed rig: "It knocked stuff everywhere
and woke me up, but I was groggy and realized
too late that my autopilot had lost its marbles
and was headed for a crash jibe in 40kts of wind.
I scrambled for the tiller when I became aware
of what was happening, but only made it to the
vestibule when the 35ft boom came over and crashed
into the runner. A lot of stuff broke all at once.
The boom broke right where it hit the runner,
the runner deck block exploded and then the runner
jammer ripped out of the deck leaving a good sized
hole. Just what I needed. It has taken me several
hours to clean up the mess as best as I can for
now, and am sailing under headsail alone. A fair
amount of water came in through the hole in the
deck. If I can get some supplies sent to the Falklands,
I will stop there and see if I can fix the boat.
I'm ok other than being dispirited and tired.
And broke. Bruce."
We
will continue to update the website when we receive
confirmed news from either skipper as to their
progress and plans.
Another
drama was taking place yesterday on board Open
40 Spirit of yukoh, and here is a full translation
from Koji's log as to what happened. This time
it was an enforced mast climb after a crash gybe/dunking
swept away all the wind instruments at the top
of the mast. This is heart-stopping stuff and
yes - Koji even took pictures at the top:
"Last
night, around 1:30am when I thought the port side
autopilot was mysteriously working again. The
autopilot drive STOPPED!!! The boat manoeuvred
a wild jibe and ended up being a knockdown. When
I thought the knockdown angle wasn't too bad a
giant wave must have hit the top of the mast and
plunged the boat further down! When assessing
the damage, my wind instruments had broken including
the direction and the speed tools. All of these
are at the very top of the mast. Without these
I have no information like the wind direction
or wind power. Which is very dangerous. Especially
in these conditions of high speed following winds
from behind! I could risk another experience of
a wild jibe. I've decided to climb the mast in
the morning till then I'll take a rest.
"I
started climbing from 9 o'clock in the morning.
I contacted the AA organizers about it. And was
told to inform them before and after the climb
for safety. My mast is a wing rotation mast, it
has no spreader and at the final few meters at
the top there is no side stay or far stay to rest
against. So I have to keep holding the mast for
dear life at the top. The waves were 3-4 meters
high and wind speed 25 knots. Even with a second
reef there were still times when I was surfing
and sudden bangs would rock the boat. With a helmet
and mountaineering harness. Trying to keep close
to the mast in these conditions is a real struggle.
Because when I lose control I smack into the mast
and it hurts...
"With
the formidable Southern Ocean and my boat being
only a 40 footer, the boat is so unstable. But
I got to the top and replaced the broken instruments.
First I took off the old tape and started unscrewing
the bolts that kept it on. With one arm holding
the mast and the other unscrewing one of the smallest
screws in history. It's an art alright!!! I then
put the new instruments in place but the wind
instrument I had had lost a wing so 2 will have
to do! Its alright I think...? The replacement
went more smoothly than I hoped! I screwed them
on and wrapped it securely with some more tape.
I then took some pictures. I'm so sick I could
hurl at any moment. As I look straight down I
can see yukoh moving. It was a great picture in
my mind when I saw Spirit of yukoh glide along
on its own in the Southern Ocean.
"The
next struggle is getting back down! Going down
is twice as hard as coming up. As my body sways
like a metronome I go down in stages of 10 cm.
While all the way getting smacked into the mast
a few times I got down safely. My first guess
of a 1 hour trip turned into a 2 hour trek! CCC
Robin kindly sent me an e-mail to see if I was
alright. I'm sorry for making people worry by
reassuring them it was only a 1 hour but taking
over 2 hours. I came out quite unscathed apart
from a few bruises.
"On
such a relatively safe trip so far, I thought
I'd not get the immense (hah...!) pleasure of
going up the mast in the race!!! But now I'd say
once was definitely good enough. (No more...please!)
"I've
been up before. It was 8 years ago when I was
going around the world on my own and the backstay
snapped. With the rough conditions I was tremendously
seasick and I did vomit at the top! Remembering
that I tried desperately not to do that again!!!
HAVE I BECOME MATURE!!! I reckon that deserves
a beer from Kels and Brian in Brazil...what do
you reckon guys?"
Mary
Ambler - mambler@clipper-ventures.com
Source:
Around
Alone Official Site
