Tom's version of the start and restart in Madeira

13 November 2007

The End

Sorry it has taken so long to get onto this but been pretty hectic getting all sorted out with the packing of the boat and also the packing up of our place in La Rochelle. I will do this up date about the problem on board which lead to me having to restart and will follow it up with a report of the 3100 mile long painful trip to Brazil.

Re Start

Well all I can say is it is important to make the most of every journey as the destination can sometimes be a disappointment. Madeira was a fantastic stopover with Bindi and Yardley and I found myself more relaxed than I have been in a long while. I had little to do on the boat other than the usual maintenance and checks. The morning of the start I got off the dock nice and early, it was pretty sad looking back at Bindi and Yards as I was towed away but also a great feeling of relief knowing that this would be the last time I had to leave them and head out alone.

I managed to make a real breakfast of the first start as I got back to the line late from sailing up wind and just generally sorting myself out, lucky for me it was a general recall as I was about 5th row and going real slow. I didn't make the same mistake second time around and have to say I nailed it big time, front row and going fast at the boat end. This felt great I was buzzing, after the start I got to quickly stacking the five twenty litre jerry cans full of water that we have to start with under the rule of the class mini and the Wombat was going like a train. Unfortunately I missed the disengagement mark, it was an upwind start I didn't think they would bother with one, but they did and I over-layed it which took me from a top 5 position to about 20th.

The first arvo we were on to zero's reaching then as night fell moved to the big spinnakers. I felt the usual sadness leaving Bindi but was pretty busy making the most of a dying breeze. At about 1am I was hand steering with the big Spin up in about 8 knots of wind and my display for the pilot started to flicker on and off. This display is what controls everything, it tells the pilot to go on, off, up, down, the lot, but luckily it came back on. I was thinking that it would be a pain in the arse if the light didn't work the whole way and I had to use a torch at night. Then it started to flicker again and went off, I tried the usual tapping and button pushing but no luck. I went into dropping the big spinnaker and went about switching everything off and on again, my batteries were fully charged so this couldn't be the problem. I got on the VHF to some of the boys in the fleet who were more eleco savvy than me to seek any advice, hoping someone would tell me some simple thing I had neglected. No luck. I went through the whole system with the multi meter while the boat just spun around as it liked with the mainsail up. I managed to find power going through the whole system all the way to the back of the display. The display had died.

Disaster, I have spent the last 3 years coming up with ways to repair things during this race from a rig coming down to keel failure. I even had a spare pilot ram as I have heard of these burning out. This auto helm system was new 3 months before the start, and I have sailed with it plenty, it was my best friend for the first leg and did a fantastic job. I could not believe the difference between the last generation pilot and this one.

Well my options were pretty clear, either I continue to the Canneries, 200 miles, or return to the Start 40 miles, so I decided to return to Madeira.

I arrived in Madera 11 hours later, from here I had Bindi and all the contacts I needed and would know if it was going to be possible to continue in the race. The race rules state that if you don't restart 72 hours after your arrival in a port then you may not continue in the race. There was a big possibility that I would not get a new display in time, it could have easily been physically impossibile to find a display and fly it to Madeira in time.

I sent a text to my good mate Nugger from Diverse to say I had big problem and needed new pilot inside 70 hours and counting. The next morning Nugger called straight away to say he was on the case of finding a new pilot display and will do everything possible to get it to me in time. By Breakfast he had one in his hand and was booked on the next flight to Madeira, what a champ.

This was a tough time. I had to make the decision wether to continue, and it was not easy, at this stage I was struggling, my dream to compete in this race was over. I never intended to do this for just the experience of crossing an ocean; it was always to try to win. Well Bindi and I discussed it plenty and I called my good friend John Woodruff who has supported me during this whole journey, and decided to continue to Brazil. So many people have invested themselves in my dream to compete in this event, I wasn't here just for myself but I was here representing everyone who had believed in me.

Nugger arrived that night and we went straight from the airport to the boat and got started. It was as easy as unplugging the old one and plugging in the new. Yep, couldn't believe it, that something so small had just smashed 3 years of work and dreams. Nugger came up with a couple of other little tricks as well to make sure we had a back up if it happened again, and the Wombat was ready to restart.

Now this was tough, I caught a taxi with Bindi and Yards at 4am on their way to the airport. Getting out of that taxi with my small bag, looking a treat in my thermals and bare feet, was a heart cruncher and I felt so alone. Down at the marina I could only find a security guard that could hardly stand up he was so drunk. But after some effort in communication with my drunk friend I managed to find the guy whose job it was to see boats in and out of the marina at any time, he was out fishing at the end of the break water.

Luckily one of his mates spoke English and he agreed to tow me out for my 3100 mile delivery, my main concern was that the fleet were now 3 days ahead of me which set us for some pretty lonely times ahead.

MORE SOON...

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