Tim Good
Well-known member
After lockdown in July I took the first flight back to my boat which was in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. I wanted to get it back to the UK this year since we planned to sail to Svarlbard in 2021... so I sailed single handed to the Azores (approx 700nm) where I'd meet my partner Emmie for the onward leg back to the UK.
A reasonable forecast showed approx 25kts for the first 3 days and then a strong blow for a couple of days south of Madeira. I had intended to pull into Madeira and let it blow through before carrying on. However, I couldn't quite claw my way up there so I decided to carry on but encountered sustained 45kt winds but with abnormally large breaking waves in the accelleration zone to the SW of Madeira. I tried to reef the main further before nightfall and ripped it down the middle. I then motored up at 50 degrees into the waves and wind with the staysail but then the engine packed up. I turned down wind and ran off. With large waves breaking around me and faced with the possibility of loosing a lot of ground into the Atlantic, with no mainsail or engine to help me claw my way north again... I deployed the JSD.
I made a video of the trip and the retrieval which I thought some might find interesting.
A reasonable forecast showed approx 25kts for the first 3 days and then a strong blow for a couple of days south of Madeira. I had intended to pull into Madeira and let it blow through before carrying on. However, I couldn't quite claw my way up there so I decided to carry on but encountered sustained 45kt winds but with abnormally large breaking waves in the accelleration zone to the SW of Madeira. I tried to reef the main further before nightfall and ripped it down the middle. I then motored up at 50 degrees into the waves and wind with the staysail but then the engine packed up. I turned down wind and ran off. With large waves breaking around me and faced with the possibility of loosing a lot of ground into the Atlantic, with no mainsail or engine to help me claw my way north again... I deployed the JSD.
I made a video of the trip and the retrieval which I thought some might find interesting.