Race 1 - Day 28
Crew Diary - Race 1 Day 28: Liverpool to Punta del Este
17 September

A Kite-mare on Helm Street - Cameron Bailey

It was a calm Saturday morning, much like many other mornings we had seen previously. The sun was shining and spirits were high after learning we had bagged 2 points thanks to our second place finish in the Elliot Brown Ocean Sprint. Watch handover (the 15 minute transition between the two watches) went smoothly, however it was noted that a squall was on the horizon and coming our way. Winds in these squalls are unpredictable at best, so as the weather approached the decision was taken to drop the lightweight Code 1 Spinnaker and replace it with its tougher Code 3 counterpart. The drop went off with a couple of difficulties but nothing we couldn't handle and the kite was wooled and packed away in record time. The replacement was prepped for a lift and I decided to get my head down for a few hours.

Then all hell broke loose.

"ALL HANDS ON DECK!" someone yelled down the corridor. Less than a minute later I was fully dressed and on deck (which anyone at home can attest to is no mean feat), although I later realised in the rush every item of clothing I was wearing was backwards or inside out (or both). I looked over to see the spinnaker dragging along in the water behind the boat. After muttering a few expletives, I worked my way into a position to help pull on the sheet connecting the sail to the boat. A lot of heaving later and the kite was back on-board. It turns out a shackle had blown during the hoist and the sail (still wooled up) dropped like a stone into the sea. Much to the relief of our sailmakers Phil and Lizzie the spinnaker had survived its swim and remained undamaged. For now.

Thankfully during this drama the squall had passed, meaning we could quickly hoist the Code 1 spinnaker again, double and triple checking all fittings before doing so. As the head (top corner) of the sail was reaching the top of the mast, much to our horror the halyard hoisting it slipped on the winch causing the kite to drop a good 10 feet, dunking the bottom in the water. After some frantic grinding and a few more expletives the sail was dragged from the water and back up to the top of the mast before any damage could be done. Surely that was enough bad luck for one day? Apparently not as the winch then slipped again causing the sail to drop once more. More grinding and more expletives and the sail was eventually back where it belonged at the top of the mast.

The rest of the morning was spent making good headway under the lightweight spinnaker, with my watch (Seahawks) trying to get as much sleep as we could after the morning's drama. Lunch came and went, with another smooth watch handover occurring to prepare us for the afternoon shift. The wind had picked up slightly and we were pushing the spinnaker at the higher end of its operating wind speeds, but we were making good ground and all seemed well. Half an hour later I was assisting the helm at the back of the boat - the usual mix of compass readings and light-hearted chat to keep the helm from drifting off. A sudden gust caused the wind to pick up and the boat to lurch upwind causing the apparent wind speed to increase further. The boat heeled over massively and started to broach (when the boat is overpowered and uncontrollable). The helm was struggling to hold the wheel so I dived forward to help turn it back to a straight course. It was then I heard an almighty bang. The spinnaker had, for lack of a better word, exploded. Cue more expletives.

Releasing two of the three connecting lines (the halyard and the tack line) allowed us to drop the tattered remnants of the kite into the water. From here we could repeat our earlier process and drag the sail back on deck, where we could properly assess the damage. A quick check confirmed our suspicions, the Code 1 would not being flying again until Punta del Este. After quickly packing it up in its bag and placing it with the already ripped Code 2, our last remaining spinnaker (Code 3) was hoisted.

After flying the Code 3 for a short while, a strong gust caused the boat to broach again. Some quick thinking by one crew member (I can't remember who, the details are all blurred into one), led to the the tack line being released causing all the power to leave the sail and the boat to straighten up. This did mean that the kite had to come down yet again and be wooled, a process that takes the best part of half an hour on a good day. As soon as the last piece of wool had been tied and the spinnaker was back in its bag, it was up on deck ready to be hoisted again. Thankfully this hoist went off without a hitch. Not 10 minutes later the kite decided to wrap itself around its own sheet causing it to take on a distinct hourglass shape. Back down it had to come, to a chorus of more expletives. Luckily some more quick thinking meant a full drop was not needed, and after the rerunning of some lines the kite was back up flying in all its glory. The rest of the watch was spent maintaining this sail plan, praying that nothing more would happen. However, Poseidon had different plans.

After the watch was handed over at 4am the wind direction changed and the decision was made to gybe in order to maintain the best course towards Punta del Este. As the boat swung around we all had our fingers crossed that nothing would happen (although the pessimists / realists amongst the group had the wool at the ready). As the kite crossed over the bow of the boat it decided to wrap itself around the netting specifically designed to prevent wrapping. No prizes for guessing what had to happen next. The tack line was blown, causing the sail to fly like a massive flag from the top of the mast. Afterwards we agreed that if it wasn't so urgent we would have liked to sit and watch as this flag was illuminated by the tri-colour and fluttered in front of the brilliant night sky. However the reality was that it needed to come down ASAP and come down it did. Cue more wooling. The decision was made to not attempt another hoist until dawn and we continued to sail with just the mainsail, much to the relief of the crew.

Dawn rolled around and we thought all was well. A new day must bring new fortunes right? But as with all good horror movies the baddie came back for one last scare at the end, and it was a biggie. The Code 3 was hoisted once more (we were getting quite good at this bit by now), but no sooner had it reached the top of the mast than the block supporting the halyard decided to spontaneously explode, causing the kite to come tumbling down and land in the sea once more. Unfortunately it then decided to travel under the boat, getting shredded by the rudder in the process. When we finally recovered it, the full extent of the damaged could be seen. The verdict of the sailmakers was that the damage was too extensive and the kite would have to join the others in early retirement.

And thus ends our Kite-mare on Helm street. It's white sails for us for the remainder of the journey so progress will be slow but hopefully less eventful.

For those of you counting at home we totalled 8 drops, 7 hoists, 4 sails in the water, 2 kites written off for this leg and an uncountable number of swear words. Fun times.