| At Sea. Volvo Ocean Race: ABN AMRO 2 narrowly escapes dismasting |
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| Monday, 17 April 2006 | |
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Simon Fisher - navigator: Right now, here on ABN AMRO TWO we are all feeling pretty damn lucky that we still have a rig in the boat and are able to push hard in the hope of making up a few places. Earlier this afternoon we got pretty damn close to this leg being all over for us... We were power reaching along in 25 knots of wind, going fast, all under control. It has become a drag race against Brasil 1 and Ericsson to see who can get to the next shift first so we had the pedal down hard. All of a sudden there was a massive bang from on deck, like gunfire followed by the screams of the guys on watch to get everyone on deck. The toggle that holds the runner block to the boat had snapped. With this broken there was nothing opposing the force of the jib and staysail pulling the mast over the front of the boat. Luckily Beavis, thinking fast, threw the boat into the wind and the guys arriving on deck wound the mainsheet on hard to stop the rig tumbling down. With little support the 30 metre spar was writhing around like a snake as the jib flapped on the bow. Fortunately we were able to get the sails down without any further damage and start making repairs in order that we get under way again. We were able to rob some parts from the leeward side enabling us to fix the runner block back to the back of the boat and within half an hour we were back sailing again at full pace. Despite these set backs and having lost valuable miles to the boats in front we are pretty pleased that we are still in the race and, more importantly, no one was hurt as the runner block left the deck when its six tonnes of load hurled it skywards. Thankfully, that little episode is behind us and we are back with the pedal to floor, racing harder than ever to beat the guys in front to the Chesapeake. |
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| Last Updated ( Monday, 17 April 2006 ) |
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