Sailboat Dismasted on the Pacific Ocean

Clipper Race - Pacific Ocean: Devastating news came this morning from the sailboat westernaustralia2011.com as they reported rig failure and subsequent dismasting on the eleventh day of the race from Qingdao to Hawaii.

At 0600 GMT the team representing Western Australia reported that their 81-foot (24.5 metres) mast had snapped approximately halfway down whilst sailing in approximately 10-15 knots of wind under spinnaker. There were no injuries onboard and the crew cut away the trailing rigging using hydraulic cutters to prevent damage to the 68-foot yacht’s hull. The yacht remains seaworthy and a full assessment of the damage is underway.

Skipper Martin Silk said, “Today was major disappointment to our race, completely unexpected, and a blow to morale. Cutting away a mast and watching it sink into the ocean is a very sad thing to endure, especially when your first reaction is to save it. For me this was a first, and hopefully a last. Not only did we lose our mast, but we also had to let our number one Yankee go, and even worse, I had to slash across the mainsail in order to save the main part of it. Everything happened in a blur, it was a reactionary event, and I feel relieved to have such a dedicated and focussed team supporting me. At one point whilst cutting the forestay, the boat part I was holding collapsed, and my feet were in the water, whilst I hung on with one hand. Almost instantly, Jack (Jack Heald, watch leader) had my harness and he and others dragged me back onboard.

“The first I knew of the dismasting was the noise; a huge bang and I instantly glanced at the chart thinking ‘what the hell have we hit?’. On deck fortunately nobody was injured and it was a rush to cut the dreaded thing away as it smashed against the hull. Tomorrow our creative nature will appear as we design and construct a jury rig to get us to Hawaii where hopefully some new boat bits await us.”

At 0600 GMT westernaustralia2011.com was located approximately 700 nautical miles east of Yokohama, Japan, in the Pacific Ocean. Due to strong winds from the west, the yacht will continue towards Hawaii under jury rig. The Clipper Race Team is looking at options for refuelling en route and it is likely that westernaustralia2011.com will head for the island of Midway, approximately 1,400 miles from their current position.

Clipper Race Director Joff Bailey said, “westernaustralia2011.com’s skipper, Martin Silk, telephoned me early this morning soon after the incident. It was obvious that the skipper and crew were very calm and dealing with the situation in a professional and orderly fashion.

“It is a testament to the skipper and crew, and the Clipper Training that they have all received, that they have dealt with a very difficult situation so well and so calmly. The Race Team is making plans to get westernaustralia2011.com safely to port in the quickest and safest way and get the team racing again as soon as possible.”

The rest of the fleet is continuing to make good progress as the wind has levelled off to give a steady strength and direction for most of the boats. However, both New York and Durban 2010 and Beyond were still in the midst of the squalls at 0600 this morning. The New York 0600 schedule email was dashed off before an “All Hands” to prepare for an incoming squall and Durban 2010 and Beyond’s skipper Ricky Chalmers spoke of the frustration of the shifty conditions: “We have had a wet and frustrating day with squalls bending the wind to the north, making our current gybe less and less favourable. Then, just as we consider starting the laborious process of gybing with one pole and a broken vang, it starts to tease us by shifting back.”

The ease in wind strength has enabled the crew to enjoy the sunshine and respite to effect boat repairs and catch up on some sleep. The flu virus that temporarily depleted the crews of Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper and Nova Scotia has now struck the Singaporean entrant. This doesn’t seem to have dampened their racing spirit, however, as the battle continues between Uniquely Singapore and Liverpool 08. They were neck and neck at 0600 GMT this morning, but six hours later, Uniquely Singapore had pulled ahead two miles. This seems to have surprised skipper Mark Preedy who felt that, for various reasons, they had lost some miles over the last 24 hours. “Our run surprised us as we had no kite up for four hours as we had a squall come through, then change instantly,” he said. “As we got the kite down then rehoisted we found a hole. Another drop, repair and then hoist and we found the wind had increased so we needed the heavyweight. Basically we had the number 3 up most of the time but that was not our biggest problem. Both heads broke today.”

Describing how his Liverpool 08 crew are revelling in the challenges, skipper Ben Galloway said, “With Jocks (Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper) creeping past us and Uniquely Singapore hot on our tail the race is still very close and Hull & Humber are only 50-odd miles away and with 2500 miles to go its still anyone’s race. The Liverpool 08 crew are always busy; as soon as there is any sort of problem someone will gladly step up to the task, whether it be fixing a small tear or fixing the heads. We are all eager for each six-hourly sched and already I can’t wait to see what it’s going to be like near the end of the race when the pressure is on, but don’t worry we will stay calm and cool.”

Joff Bailey says, “The tacticians and navigators on board will be closely watching the weather files for the low pressure systems developing off the coast of Japan. A particularly large one has been building and gathering momentum for the last few days and has now started to follow the fleet eastwards hot on their heels. This will bring some exciting downwind surfing for the fleet and help to eat up the miles to Hawaii. Beyond that the forecasters are showing another two low pressures in the chain building up on Friday and again late on Sunday/early Monday.”

Photos: Clipper Round the World Yacht Race