Golden Globe Race leader pitchpoles but stays in front
Golden Globe leader Jean-luc Van Den Heede is continuing racing despite his yacht being pitchpoled and suffering rigging damage.
On 6 November, in 65-knot conditions with 11m seas some 1,800 miles west of Chile, Van Den Heede had thoroughly prepared his Rustler 36 Matmut for knockdowns, including screwing down floorboards as well as stowing everything possible away.
“He was in his bunk,” explained race chairman Don Mcintyre, “and his storm tactic was to allow the boat to run freely downwind with 6m2 of headsail set and no warps trailing astern, steered by his Hydrovane wind vane self-steering.
“Suddenly, the boat was picked up by a huge wave and surfed down the forward face, the bows dug in and the boat went end-for-end before rolling out on her side.
Van Den Heede, 73, was thrown from his bunk onto the yacht’s deckhead.
After conditions moderated, Van Den Heede discovered damage to the hounds of the lower shrouds, just below the lower spreader bracket. The connecting bolt attachment that holds all four lower shrouds had slipped down 5cm and slackened the rigging.
He initially planned to stop and make repairs
‘THE BOWS DUG IN AND THE BOAT WENT END-FOR-END’
in Valparaiso, Chile, which would have demoted him to the race’s Chichester class.
However, after repeatedly climbing the mast, Van Den Heede was able to lash the lower shroud fixing to the spreader bracket and tighten the rig.
Van Den Heede said he was confident his solution would hold with the wind abaft the beam, but in more upwind conditions he cannot allow the boat to slam in the waves and will have to bear off to prevent further damage.
He is continuing racing in 1st place and had a 1,300-mile lead over 2nd placed Mark Slats as Yachting World went to press.
Van Den Heede became the first competitor to round Cape Horn on 23 November and is predicted to arrive back in Les Sables d’olonne in early February.
He was, however, given an 18-hour penalty after he used his satellite phone twice after the incident to call his wife. The race rules only allow satphones to be used as a safety measure to call race HQ direct.