tcm
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I've received yet another transmission from Kingfisher, and as before, a heavily edited version has since appeared on the official sites.
"All hell broke loose early this morning. A loud bang and grinding noises brought everyone up on deck to find that the mast had come down. A total mess, and time for sad reflection on what might have been. We’d all put our hearts and minds into this attempt, and just as we had begun to make inroads into the previous record, we’ve come to a full stop. The mast has snapped almost at the base, so that’s the end of that. At least nobody has been hurt. We’ve rigged a jury to limp along at 10knots with a safe but subdued crew towards Australia, probably Perth. Although this challenge is now at an end, it’s been a fantastic experience, and my longest ever trip.
We’ll all bring away some happy memories of an amazing few weeks. And hopefully, that won’t be all we’ll be taking away– since the boat will need a new mast, there’s every chance that I’ll be allowed to keep a special souvenir: it would be just great if I could keep the little area of the mast where I used my Leatherman to mark off each day with a little notch – 23 and counting. I asked one of the watch leaders about it, and they said it would probably be best to wait until I’m back in the UK before raising the issue with Ellen.
Preecy
"All hell broke loose early this morning. A loud bang and grinding noises brought everyone up on deck to find that the mast had come down. A total mess, and time for sad reflection on what might have been. We’d all put our hearts and minds into this attempt, and just as we had begun to make inroads into the previous record, we’ve come to a full stop. The mast has snapped almost at the base, so that’s the end of that. At least nobody has been hurt. We’ve rigged a jury to limp along at 10knots with a safe but subdued crew towards Australia, probably Perth. Although this challenge is now at an end, it’s been a fantastic experience, and my longest ever trip.
We’ll all bring away some happy memories of an amazing few weeks. And hopefully, that won’t be all we’ll be taking away– since the boat will need a new mast, there’s every chance that I’ll be allowed to keep a special souvenir: it would be just great if I could keep the little area of the mast where I used my Leatherman to mark off each day with a little notch – 23 and counting. I asked one of the watch leaders about it, and they said it would probably be best to wait until I’m back in the UK before raising the issue with Ellen.
Preecy
)
