Harp - we have a problem

Bang !

According to my friends, the collision was heard the other side of the Welsh Harp, back at the Club House.

It was 26th January, and a blustery day, and the first outing of 13941 with myself and Sarah Lohan, who had joined me as a new crew for this season.

Sarah and I had a great practice session before the afternoon racing, and were beginning to get a smooth routine for tacking and gybing. We are not yet into flying a Spinnaker, but I am sure that will come.

We finished the morning in high hopes.

The afternoon was going to be very physical, but our objective was to get round the course.

It was not to be.

I take full responsibility for what happened at the four minute flag. The "P" (Blue Peter or Preparation) Flag had just gone down, and we were on Port Tack along the line, preparing to position ourselves for a committee boat start. I was in the middle of trying to explain something to Sarah, who was paying attention to me. Neither of use saw Steve Cooper's boat (14151) coming on on Starboard tack, until it was too late.

Instinctively, I tried to slow down the boat by leaning back and digging the transom in the water. However, it was too late. 13941 reared up like Jaws, and cut into the port side of Steve's boat, and suffered major damage to her bows as a result.

There was enough damage to Steve's boat to cause a significant hole. Despite this, Steve and Amy elected to continue racing, and actually came third in their first race. They also stayed in the water for their second race, which Amy won.

On the other hand our own boat had sustained a massive hole, and was sinking. I made sure the safety boat was aware of our predicament, and we gently nursed the boat back to the pontoon, staying on the transom as much as possible in order to prevent too much was ingress. 

When we eventually limped back to the pontoon, the boat was probably half the freeboard it normally  had. Despite the help of a couple of Sea Cadets, we were unable to pull her fully out the water; we just had to wait until the water had drained out (it seemed to take hours...) before we could get the boat up the slipway.

What followed was a standard breakdown ready for travel. The mast was stored on top of the started clubhouse. All the other fitments (rudder, boom, sails etc.) were put into our car, and the road trailer was set up ready for a visit to the repair shop.

I subsequently spoke to the insurance company, and to Ben Dingwall. It looks like this may be some time, and of course Steve's immaculate wooden boat needs to be repaired at insurance cost before mine is repaired. 

Not a very impressive start to the season. 

Things can only get better in future. 

So we need to get back onto the water as soon as possible, and try to go forward from this setback.