Yesterday the mast came down while peacefully sailing upwind in about 12 knots; spreader bracket failure. By coincidence a volunteer rescue team was out practicing so I gave them something to do. They had a landing craft and they just lowered the front and we pulled the boat in. Last time I had that kind of service was at the 1978 Laser North Americans in Kingston. I had forgotten my stern plug and it was pretty disconcerting to get caught up by the leaders of the silver fleet who had started 10 minutes later. I was only 16 and I went through an uncomfortably long bout of self doubt before noticing that water was sloshing over the deck at every tack. Ian Bruce had organised a fantastic championship and a landing craft was on standby for quick on the water boat repairs. Pulling a fully swamped Laser into the boat required a bit more effort than hauling the Moth in. Draining it must have taken the better part of thirty minutes. They had a spare stern plug and didn´t charge me for it!
Today I buzzed down to Malcesine to strafe the M32s as they were waiting for a start. Easy come, easy go. About 20 miles of water covered down and back up the lake – just a short session. It´s Sunday.
No comments:
Post a Comment