<\/p>\n
We had been doing great all night shaving mile after mile from Halvard
\nMabire and Miranda Merron’s lead over us, we were flying the smallest
\nspinnaker, a bullet proof job called the A5, a sail that can be used even
\nif 40 knots of wind, which is not far from what we had, sustained 30-35,
\nthe usual treatment down here… until disaster struck, the halyard parted
\nand the sail went down into the water.<\/p>\n
Halvard and Miranda were 750 miles ahead of us just a few days back, and
\nwith a bit of luck but also by pushing very hard we brought down the gap
\nto under 240 miles, a 510 miles catch up! I doubt we’d have ever had the
\nchance to overtake them but our goal is to finish within 24 hours of them.
\nThey have a brand new boat and tons of experience and we feel that would
\nbe a very honorable placement for us.<\/p>\n
As you can imagine trailing a spinnaker in the water in 30-35 knots of
\nwind is likely to cause a few headaches, we masterminded a way to bring it
\ninside the boat with lines lead to winches via hatches and whatnot, it
\ntook us a good hour but unfortunately the damage is severe, at some stage
\nthe sail wrapped around the rudder and tore for many meters and we dont
\nknow if it can be saved. We aslo bent one of the stanchions in the process
\nwhich will need removing and rewelding.<\/p>\n
Hopefully this is the last bit of damage for 2011 and 2012 will not bring
\njust yet any more repairs with a hefty bill to foot.<\/p>\n
It is a rather serious blow to the racing budget, if the sail needs
\nreplacing we are looking at 2000 pounds and even a repair will cost 500 at
\nthe very least but i doubt that’s enough… it’s part of the game, part of
\nfinding that balance between speed and wear of material, you walk on the
\nedge and sometimes you slip, the important is to get up again and keep
\ngoing.<\/p>\n