Okay, so <this> wasn't our boat, but we know the two crews involved. In fact, my 2nd in command's girlfriend hit the other boat's stern. No visible damage on her boat, the other one is resting on the bottom of the Solent.

Here is a more informative news article.

It's very exciting taking out novice crews in a force 7 - 8.



I've attached a pic from early in the day - wind still down at a 5 - 6.

(pic there - I'm an idiot who's not used to the new BBS yet!)

Sometims just yelling 'STARBOARD!' isn't enough...

Who says sailing's not a contact sport?

-Zeke

It was mostly a non-contact sport:

• The boat which sank the other one doesn't even have any damage (well, a minor scratch on the paintwork)
  
• There was a split lip
• One broken wrist
• Two cut heads
• Various miscellaneous damage

Interesting to see whether the executive let us do it next year - 40 boatloads of colleagues, maybe 2 experienced crew on each and up to 6 novices is not a good combination in a force 7. It would have been fine in a force 5.

We even had some fun on the Sunday - no wind and a faulty engine meant we got much closer to the bow of a supertanker than I would have liked (minimum distance about 100 yards!!!) and I reckon the tanker captain wasn't too happy either, judging by the blasts on his foghorn.

For a more exciting pic - showing the conditions a bit later.

Oh, and that wasn't my boat - I wouldn't have let my reefing lines fly that loosely

And another action shot. Those waterproofs were needed, believe me.

It must have been fun for the crew of the USS Enterprise, who were in the Solent - watching 40 boatloads of (mostly) beginners trying to cope with conditions.

Just look at the size of the USS Enterprise!

Actually, I'm sure it used to have a big dome - where did that go?

The dome's invisible now. New technology.

Regarding your other shots - I don't know what Sunsail was thinking letting boats out with 2 crew & 4 ballasts in that wind. I'll wager a few people are put off sailing forever after that experience.

-Zeke

I bet they have DirecTV now.

Quote:
Actually, I'm sure it used to have a big dome - where did that go?

Yes - surprised us too. We reckon they will put in a ruling that every boat needs a Sunsail skipper on board next year.

Our most scared member of the crew actually came up to me on Friday and said she would come racing next year if we wanted her back (crazy fool that she is) but I think we'll go for 8 experienced sailors and try and win the trophy back.

Attached is poor yacht 47:)

Hmmm - yup:) But luckily a 20,000 ton boat doesn't do this.

Admittedly, I'd rather be at sea level in a peedie boat than wallowing on a ferry. I remember the first time we went to the Falklands, we took the MV Kerren (a North Sea ferry) from Ascension Island. 16 days of very rough seas. Didn't see my mother the whole time - she stayed in her cabin while my brothers and I got shown how to fire GPMGs, rifles etc by the Royal Marines.

This big boat looks like it doesn't notice the wind at all.