It has been a tough night out here on the Great Australian Bight. Thunder, lightening and constant rain have been on the menu. Complete volatility of the wind has made planning a route difficult at best. The big issue is that our keel is getting worse. The keel is wobbling in its bearings and more […]
There are many aspects to this race. It’s a high level grand prix and associated with that,goes the stress and demand of competition. Due to the length and physical demands of the event, and each leg within it, human personalities cycle up and down , randomly and often. Being able to keep a grip on […]
Position: 37,28.13S , 120,47.42E Speed: 14 knots, Course: 124 deg. The black Pearl is now about 350 miles southeast of Eclipse Island. We have nice 15 knot wind from the southwest, a beautiful moonlit night, and a great forecast for the next three days. This should allow us to make good progress toward Melbourne at […]
Position: 35,1.90S , 117,53.16E Speed: 0 knots, Course: 152 deg. The repairs to the Black Pearl have been completed and she will leave the dock in Albany within the hour. It will then take her 1 more hour to reach the point at which she suspended racing yesterday. From that point in time, she will […]
HEADLINE NEWS The Black Pearl had a wildlife rendezvous this afternoon with a well known predator of the sea, as a shark got caght on their rudder, whilst ‘smoking’ along nicely at 20-25kts. Helmsman Craig Satterthwaite reported “I felt a sharp thump on the rudder and then vibration through the steering, so I alerted the […]
Position: 40,24.5S , 113,11.98E Speed: 10 knots, Course: 347 deg. We are presently 380 miles from the southwestern tip of Australia. It seems a trivial feat now that the winds are light and we have gained more confidence in our situation but 72 hours ago we were in a “preservation of the yacht” mode and […]
Seahorse January 2006 We are close to completing our first leg of this Volvo Ocean Race. It hasn’t been without incident. We have broken the vang off the mast, hit an object in the water which damaged our rudder, and incurred some damage to our keel support structure. At this point, some 4000 miles into […]
Well, it is Saturday the 14th where we are and the crew are all talking about how the keel “made it”. Some of my guys are pretty concerned. I am starting to be more comfortable with the advice that we are receiving from our designers that our damage does not affect the critical elements of […]
Last evening at 1845 the crew of the Black Pearl noticed cracks in the area of it keel support structure. Water was coming into the boat from those cracks and still is. The rate of water flow is manageable at this time. Sail was immediately reduced. Photos and video of the cracks were recorded and […]
2300 UTC Another 12 hours on, we have had another round of phone calls and information exchange with the designers of our boat. We have damage to secondary support structure in the area of the keel. That means that the main structure is integral but the bits that bond it to the boat have been […]
Sailing Scuttlebutt
