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An unhappy Chicago to Mackinac race report…
Tom was resting below deck, seas were sloppy/lumpy, we were moving at our poles under 2 reefs and a partially furled headsail on port tack. I was preparing to take the wheel at 7 PM, Joe was helming; Jim, Dan and Sean were essential rail meat on the port rail. ‘Crack!’ and the entire rig was laid perpendicular and horizontal on the starboard side, the base of the mast sheared completely off, remaining attached to the boat only by the shrouds, halyards and rigging components. WTF?!
Dismasted @ 6:45 PM, race over simultaneously. Ugh. We rallied, safely, in the lumpy/sloppy conditions, (somehow) salvaging the boom as we disconnected fittings, unscrewed or unpinned turnbuckles and cut halyards. The mast and sails remained (somewhat) on the lake surface to our starboard and didn’t pose a threat to hole the boat…as long and the base end was pinned to the cabin top.
We weren’t sure what would happen once everything was freed. Once the Roller Furling drum was disconnected and ready to toss off the boat, the pin of the remaining port side turnbuckles keeping the base of the mast (kinda) secure, along with the frayed and stretched jib halyard, was banged out or cut..and the rig was shoved/tossed over the side, disappearing within seconds. Ugh…
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