SURVIVAL
“ ournalists and all those people was.Three lads, and when I say lads, a helicopter, having shown incredible
have always been trying to get the youngest was 17, the other two mental strength to keep himself aliveJ
another side to it.There is no were below 20 years of age, they had and the boat afloat.By the time he was
other side, do you understand a decision to make.They had to make rescued, helicopters and rescue vessels
what I’m saying?”says NickWard an instant decision. I can’t judge them. assumed there were only bodies to
rather forcefully down the phone from They made the right decision, as far as retrieve. He was the last man standing.
Hamble.This is not a line of questioning I’m concerned.They were picked up by The events leading up to the rescue
he wants to pursue. helicopter an hour later.” are, by now, well known.After near-
The other side that journalists becalmed conditions not long after
want to hear, the bitter juice they’re the start of the 1979 Fastnet race, a“Ward pleaded with the
trying to squeeze fromWard is a fleet of 303 boats found themselves in
morsel of resentment from a man left an unpredicted force 10 storm off thepanicky Sheahan, but another
for dead by his crewmates, and barely south-east corner of Ireland.Just 85 boats
acknowledged by them after being finished the round trip to the rock, withknockdown interrupted the
rescued.In the middle of the worst five boats ending up in pieces on the sea
yacht-race-turned-disaster in living bed, sunk, and a further 19 abandoneddiscussion, and when Ward
memory,Ward’s crewmates abandoned by their crews.Fifteen sailors never
him and dying crewman GerryWinks made it home.next came to, he was in the
on board the 30-foot yacht Grimalkin. Two of those deaths were among the
They stepped off the boat and into the six crew onGrimalkin, one of the smallest
life raft with the remaining safety gear, boats in the fleet, with its owner,Davidwater, tethered to the boat by
leaving two unconscious but very much Sheahan the first fatality. Sheahan suffered
alive individuals to an unknown fate. a head wound in one of the first knock-his lifeline. Scrambling back
The other side thatWard warns downs the boat experienced,and was lost
against uncovering is a bitter emotional overboard when the boat subsequentlyon board with a broken leg,
swamp from whichWard has walked turned over. Sheahan’s teenage son,Matt,
away. By saying there is no other side, assumed control as his father slid awayhe was alone. The life raft
Ward means there is only survival, and and made the decision to abandon ship,
there is only one side of survival worth leaving behindWard andWicks.was gone, an empty cavity left
talking about – the side on which you
make it out alive. Nothing else really Knockdownsunder the cockpit floor.”
matters.
“Unless you’ve been at sea in a and knockouts
Force 10, 11 or 12, it’s very difficult Ward, however, had 13 solitary hours
to judge anybody if they think two of left to suffer back on board Grimalkin. Ward had argued against using the life
their crewmates are dead, which they He would, eventually, be plucked from raft before the final knockdown.Sailors
thouttht h ouoo ghtggghg h tt III www aaaa ss aanndd ththeh eyy thought Gerry the mountainous, foam-streaked seas by often say that you should only ever step
•(Mainpicture-p22):NickWard is plucked from
Grimalkin in the last aerial rescue of the 1979
Fastnet Race.
•(Insets-p22)Ward was taught to sail by his
father (top) but had to learn to walk and sail again
as a teen after a major medical trauma (other
insets).
•The battered hull of Grimalkin, minus its mast
and rigging, was eventually salvaged and towed
ashore in Ireland(thispage).
OUTSIDER|June-July|23
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