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(April 10, 2023) – Ian Herbert Jones (GBR), who had been racing his Tradewind 35 PUFFIN in the Golden Globe Race, had his boat roll over and dismast, with the skipper injuring his back and incurring a gash to his head. His location was northeast of Cape Horn when he became overwhelmed in winds gusting over 90 knots and a confused sea.
Jones was the last placed boat in the race, and had been relegated to the Chichester Class due to his use of safety electronics to coordinate stopover logistics.
At 1540UTC, he rang the GGR Race Office on Iridium phone to advise he was in extreme weather, running under bare poles, and trying to hand steer downwind. The yacht was laid over often by the force of wind and waves and there was a small amount of water down below.
The line was bad and contact was lost, but ten minutes later he called again, reporting how he could not launch his drogue to keep Puffin stern to the waves. He had been washed out of the cockpit twice and activated his EPIRB. Don McIntyre advised Jones that the extreme weather would last for at least another five hours, and that he should launch his drogue if possible, to assist down wind control on Puffin. Keeping the stern facing the wave is critical to avoid being rolled.
With only eight inches of water over the cabin sole, which was probably leakage through the cockpit, the manual bilge pump was working and Puffin was not sinking. At this time, the mast was secure and all safety equipment onboard was secure, although his electrical system was low on power…
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