It’s been a super adventure on board Punta since the last blog. We are sailing fast under spinnaker but have been dealing with the price of doing so.
The first challenge we faced since we hoisted our Code 3, our instruments went black as we were just about to hoist, and we were at night. We still had our course over ground (COG) and speed over ground from our GPS, the compass, and the Windex at the top of the mast for wind instruments, which made our life easier as we hoisted anyway. The mission was to identify the problem, something burnt the fuse and we had only two spares. Mac and Angus did a great job isolating the problem by finding the fuse of concern and which of the instrument cables was faulty. After a lot of thinking in the nav station and the support of Mike Brien, our Clipper Race fleet electrician who sent us a very useful email for troubleshooting, we managed to find and disconnect the faulty instrument, which was the one providing water speed data and the water depth. Then, we had our wind data and heading sensor back and linked to our nav software.
The second challenge came later in the afternoon of the same day, while surfing waves at 18 knots, the steering failed, and we ended up in a massive broach situation. As soon as I got on deck and grabbed the helm to help the crew who wasn’t able to get out of the broach situation, I felt quickly that there was a problem and asked Stephane to check the steering gear. Indeed, the tie-bare that connects both rudders came off. With 20knts of winds and a big sea, I called all hands on deck for an immediate drop of the spinnaker since I had almost no ability to steer the boat. After a great team effort, the spinnaker was safe on board. Stephane reassembled the tie-bare connecting both rudders and within an hour, we hoisted again our Code 3 and started flying again.
After hitting top speed that night, I woke up to the sound of another broach. I heard some chatting about something malfunctioning and as I popped my head out, I learned that one primary winch which was used for the active sheet of the spinnaker was no longer working and was under load. After looking at the track on TimeZero and considering the winch issue and the sea state, I decided to drop the spinnaker and initiate the winch repair. Without wasting anytime Stephane took the toolbox out and started the tidy job. This morning, we hoisted back our Code 3 with 30 knots wind, and we are doing great speed since and with exhilarating surfs.
And today it’s my birthday! I couldn’t wish for a better birthday party and a very special happy hour as my crew sang “Happy Birthday” in French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and Vasc! A big thank you to Juan our Yacht Club Punta del Este commodore for his letter and to my family, girlfriend and Santi for their birthday wishes. We are continuing to race hard and will do till we cross the Finish Line in Seattle.
Vamos Punta!!!
Nano, Angus and the Punta Riders