Classic Boat – August 2019

PPL MEDIA

CLAUDIA MYATT

“Dismasting

400m SW

of Cape

Leeuwin was

caused by

a fractured

rigging

wire, not a

knockdown”

42 CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2019

GOLDEN GLOBE REPORT

Loïc Lepage

(FRA) Nicholson 32 Laaland

Suered a dismasting 20 October

400 miles SW of Cape Leeuwin but

it was caused by a fractured rigging

wire, not a knockdown. The mast

released but evidently holed the

boat. He was picked up by a cargo

vessel on 22 October.

Istvan Kopar

(USA) Tradewind 35 Pun

Istvan experienced 12 storms with

winds above 50 knots. He steered in

bad weather and kept sail on: trysail

and storm jib. He felt his boat was

safest with the wind on the beam or

broad reach. He had tried streaming

an anchor on 50-100m and felt it

stabilised the boat. He carried on

sailing. No drogue used but had

streamed lines astern. Istvan tended

to steer in really bad weather and

keep speed on to provide control. He

had a number of knockdowns: in the

Indian Ocean, south of NZ, 1,000

miles west of Chile, and in the South

Atlantic 1,000 miles from the

Falklands. The worst one came from

the port quarter. He continued sailing.

Tapio Lehtinen

(FIN) Gaia 36 Asteria

He experienced no severe storms

and he never went over more than

45 degrees. Tapio feels his low

freeboard had something to do with

that, or the amount of weed and

gooseneck barnacles, which gave his

boat greater drag. He never used a

drogue or warps and found his boat

safest at 30 degrees o directly

downwind, but tended to steer

in those conditions from his inside

steering position. Tapio feels a

deck-stepped mast is safer. He

carried on sailing.