PAGE 16 • SPRING 2006 THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SAILING ASSOCIATION
FEATURE STORY
continued from page 10
After three days of motor sailing, conflicting weather
systems created lumpy seas, at times breaking on deck
from different directions and propelling plenty of spray.
Large swells and continual squalls generating wind gusts
up to 50 knots were the standard fare for the rest of the
trip.
As reported on the CRA website, “All boats are learning
the art of blue water passage making along with the need
to carry out constant and continuous make and mend as
the sea shakes and rolls the yachts about 200 times
harder than normal weekend sailing.”
Banging and bruising
One boat was dismasted. Five boats sustained rudder
damage, two losing them completely, mostly from the
wrenching sea conditions, one possibly from striking
something in the water. Several boats reported failed or
balking autopilots, requiring crew to hand steer. One
boat, taking on water through a failing rudderpost,
diverted to Bermuda for repairs and three more made for Joy For All crewmember David Grove fits an improvised chafe-
Puerto Rico, either due to equipment problems or to guard, made from a leather deck shoe, on a storm drogue bridle.
provide rest for overtaxed crew from the northeasterly
winds and waves.
“This is an open ocean event, not a cruise,” Steve Black,
Director of the CRA, told me when we were back on the
hard in Tortola. “People do get banged up and bruised.”
Still, and most skippers and crew to whom I spoke
agreed, the point to be made isn’t that offshore passage
making can be challenging, sometimes rough, but that
rally participation improves the odds of avoiding pitfalls
and meeting challenges successfully.
Pre-event preparations by CRA staff and rally
participants are intense, and begin well before the
departure date. With 16 years of rally organization
behind him, Black reports one of the most significant
benefits of rally participation is that it forces skippers to
adhere to an intensive boat and equipment
preparation/repair schedule — or be left at the dock.
Skippers, who pay an entrance fee to participate, receive
lists of required and recommended boat systems and
safety equipment. Each boat must pass an inspection
conducted by staff, and official Coast Guard inspections
can be arranged. Assistance is provided in hooking up
skippers with chandlers and service providers. Also,
classes and demonstrations are held beginning a week
before departure in everything necessary to safely make
the trip: provisioning, sail and engine repair, life raft
deployment, celestial navigation, healthcare and injury at
sea, how to set up and operate high capacity pumps
continued on page 18
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