SIGHTINGS
CARLO BORLENGHI / ROLEX
rambler turtles in fastnet race George David’s Juan K 100 Rambler 100 lost her keel and turtled shortly after rounding Fastnet Rock on August 15 at 5:45 p.m. GMT. In a report to Scuttlebutt, navigator Peter Isler described being at the nav station with the boat sailing upwind toward the offset mark in 23 knots of breeze and big seas, when he “heard the big bang. The boat immediately flipped to 90 degrees, and within 30 seconds it turned turtle.” Thankfully all 21 crew aboard — 16 managed to stay aboard the upturned hull while five floated away but remained tethered together — were successfully rescued, but that outcome was never a sure thing, and if not for a variety of factors, things could have turned out much differently. Three crewmembers were reportedly able to do the “walkover” as the boat capsized, starting a chain reaction that led to the ‘Rambler’ may have lost her keel, but thankfully none of the thirteen others having crew were lost. the help they needed to get aboard the upside-down hull — no easy feat given the boat’s prodigious freeboard and the sea conditions. Somehow, none of the crew became tangled in the lifelines or running rigging, another near-miracle to say the least. An intensive Safety at Sea training course attended by the entire crew was instrumental in their survival, especially the five sailors in the water — including David — who stayed tethered to each other. Isler radioed two maydays from the overturned boat, one from the base station and one from a handheld. Two EPIRBs were activated, and the crew’s proximity to the Irish coast no doubt played a role in the Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s rescue boat getting to the sailors in the water in just 2.5 hours. The boat has since been recovered, and David plans to put her back together again in time for the Rolex Sydney Hobart in December. The incident got us thinking of how many notable racing boats have lost keels. We put up a preliminary list in ‘Lectronic Latitude, and solicted reader responses which we’re compiling for a future article. There’s a recap of the race in this month’s Racing Sheet which starts on page 128. — rob
rudi’s Mark Rudiger was one of the Bay’s most successful sailors before lymphoma took his life in July ‘08. A navigator with a Whitbread Race win (and later a Volvo Ocean race runner-up finish) under his belt, five TransPac Barn Door Trophies and multiple overall honors in 14 of the Hawaii races, three Sydney-Hobart honors, and an OSTAR, Rudiger was at the top of his game when first diagnosed with lymphoma in ‘04. When the word got out that Rudiger was ill, the rallying of support from the sailing community was both welcome and overwhelming for him and his wife Lori, and son Zayle.
rolex big boat series September is of one our favorite months here on the Bay, and not least of all because it marks the St. Francis YC’s annual Rolex Big Boat Series, the West Coast’s premier big boat regatta. This year’s event is shaping up to be another solid one. With 48 boats signed up as of this writing, and quite a few others likely to be there September 8-11, we’d be surprised if there weren’t at least 80 or even 90 boats racing. The Melges 32s were the biggest one design class at the event last year, but won’t be back as their Worlds are later this month in Palma. The venerable and ageless Farr 30s (formerly known as Mumm 30s) have jumped to the rescue with 12 boats, hailing from as far away as Germany, the East Coast and Canada, already signed up. The regatta will also function as their Worlds. As of this writing, only six J/105s were registered, but we’d be surprised to see that total come in anywhere south of 20 boats by the time the first gun is fired. Ditto with the J/120s, which show three registered, but should produce at least seven boats in what is always one of the tightest fleets on the course. The Rolex Big Boat Series’ longest-running one design class, the continued on outside column of next sightings page Page 74 •
Latitude 38
• September, 2011
The TP/IRC 52s will be back this year as the grand prix fleet at the St. Francis YC’s Rolex Big Boat Series.