Late last night we were blasting along in perfect conditions on the way to a 240 mile day when the steering malfunctioned. Since we were under spinnaker, losing steering authority led to the boat rounding up and all sorts of foredeck unpleasantness. It took quite an effort on part of all to establish calm and identify the cause of the problem. Unfortunately the cause is not repairable at sea and hence the decision to abandon the race was taken. We are now proceeding under reduced sail using a splendid emergency tiller that could pass for a bit of modern sculpture. The sea is lumpy and bumpy hence our ride, in contrast to the downwind sleigh ride of the last couple of days. Ironically the North Pacific high did exactly what we hoped of it - we were in a very nice position in terms of the race!
On the bright side, no one got hurt and we have a relatively short (350 miles to go) sail to San Francisco where repairs can be effected. Chicken corma dinner brightened up the prospects good deal!
Guy
Great to read this update. I'm obviously completely ignorant about sailing, but read a bit online about the potential seriousness of losing steering, and couldn't help but worry. Glad to know all is well.
ReplyDeleteJoan