25.12.21 - Sundowners

Day one of the great pre-race gauntlet kicked off today with some safety drills, mostly man overboards. John was on the helm in the middle of a man overboard drill when we heard a loud, unmistakable crack. The boat stopped dead in its tracks and immediately heeled over to about 45 degrees. A quick glance behind us revealed a stunned sunfish floating in our wake, clearly having had a worse morning than us.

We went into panic mode and wasted no time heading back to shore. Our rudder and wheel became incredibly hard to turn and we were fearing for the worst. Unsure if we even had a rudder anymore, we rigged up an emergency tiller just in case.

Once safely back at the yacht club, Barry went for a swim to inspect the damage. Thankfully, it didn't look too bad. The rudder had been bent backwards by about 5 degrees, slamming it up into the hull and causing damage to both the rudder and the hull. Interestingly, the front of the rudder was still covered in slime from the sunfish.

A round of phone calls followed as Barry called in the last of his favours. By the end of it, the plan was set to haul the boat out of the water first thing the next morning for repairs. Exhausted, we headed home for an early dinner and sleep.