Captain's Log

March 15, 2003

Hello all,

Well its happened again. The starboard D1 , or the lowest wire supporting the mast on the starboard side, has just snapped. This is just not meant to happen. Last time I was 65 nm from land when this same wire let go off Tasmania, now however, I am 650 nm from land so the situation is different.

The first thing is to stabilize the rig. Presently I am on the Port tack in 25 kts of wind and lumpy seas so the ' good side ' of the rig is against the wind and all is secure. I can however not tack to starboard until I set up a block and tackle system to replace the load that wire was handling, otherwise my rig will break. I will wait for the seas to subside and discuss with others the best way to keep everything together.

Obviously what bothers me is that the same lightening bolt has struck 2 times and why ?? There can only be 2 answers that I can come up with to the question. First is that the wire ( its rod rigging ) is somehow faulty, the actual physical properties of the wire. Second is that the wire size is insufficient to handle the load that it is put under. I don't know the answer, but either way I will increase the diameter of the rod and get 2 completely new stays for both port and starboard sides.

This just can not happen again. Here hoping I can keep it all together while I head towards land.

Alan
BTC Velocity