Many of us sat glued to the tracker wondering why Rich was going back to shore…It was a pretty frustrating few hours, for me, here by the fire- checking weather, AIS and the mini transat tracker. Bret (Richards sponser from RG 650 Europe, the toughest mini’s out there) just called, Rich had to swap his rudders as it broke in some pretty crazy weather in the wintery mid Atlantic (note to self, always have spare rudder!) . Rich made one quick call to Bret to let us know of his plans, he is hammering it to Lanzarote now, where he will regroup. Bret’s blog follows. Keep an eye on http://www.rg650europe for Brets Blog
For Weather
http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/marine/weather?
For AIS/another tracker (he is RG650)
LEVEL=5&LANG=en&MENU=0&TIME=24&MN=gfs&MODELLTYP=wave&WIND=g056http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/224011840
Here
Here is Bret’s Blog
I cant even put a picture onto this blog……..
Two nights ago Richard launched off of a wake of a fishing boat and made a seamanship decision to check the boat after some airtime in the RG 650……….
We know he restarted and we were stoked to see him cruising with a great VMG and with 10+ knots of boat speed.
This is where the story gets interesting…….
I – was asleep but I wasn’t comfortable so I got up and anxiety got the best of me. I turned my computer on at 0555 in the morning. The French tracker was as we know asleep so I checked the AIS……. RG 650 solo sailor (FYI) and there he was heading : 175º speed: 9 kts
I was happy…….
Next update said 300 seconds which took me a few drowsy moments to work out that meant 5 minutes…….. so I watched the seconds.
Next thing I see is 3-2-1 ……….
The update screened itself and the bow was pointing 290º and the speed was 1kts
WTF – I said quietly as my family was sleeping…….
By now I was in a frenzy of anxiety and was watching for the next update…….. it came and it said the same…….
A few deep breathes later and a quick `why the f__k´
I knew deep down that I had just witnessed a virtual wipeout ………..
As I sit here writing this I still don’t know why I woke and literally watched it happen on my computer………
Anyway, obviously we cant contact Richard so we had to wait………I knew this morning at 0600 that he was heading to a port but that doesn’t help the anxiety……….
The day was difficult – I wouldn’t have liked to be around me at all……..
Anyway, saw that Richard was sailing ok and was indeed heading for a port…….
THEN…… I receive a +351 phone call and I know this is Portugal , it is 2130 at night……..
It was a message from Richard via and English speaking Portugese touching base ……..
Mate ………….
How are you?
He said all ok………
Straight into it – no time……….
WIPED OUT ON A MAST HIGH BREAKER , BROKE RUDDER, WENT HEAD TO WIND, NOT FUN……..SOLVED PROBLEM , CHANGED RUDDER TO OTHER SIDE, GYBED BOAT HEADED TO PORT, AIMED FOR CALM WATERS, FITTED SPARE RUDDDER ( to hard to do in swell, needed shelter) PHONED YOU, LOST WIND GEAR, SUFFERED SOME OTHER DAMAGE, GOT TO GO WIND DROPPING……..SPEAK IN LANZAROTE……..AM LEAVING NOW………….
brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr phone dead.
I sat there for a second and thought about what had just happened and tried to relate to his situation……….
This story is not about winning a yacht race , this is about the story itself………….
I have nothing more to say other than to all the people following this unfold hang in there because there is more to come……….
The outcome of all of this is that Richard found calm waters to replace the rudder which we carried a spare for and he is off again……….
Still no `F´ word……….
Go the RG !!!!!!!!!!!!
and………
Go the Hewson !!!!!!!!!!! Shuck yeeeeaaaaahhhhhhhhh.
