I'm way behind on "January sailing in Texas" videos. We left the dock for 10 races in January, only finished 8. This last weekend were the two we didn't finish. Winds were gusting to 35 knots on Saturday, 30 on Sunday. Saturday, we were too far back in the standings to risk busting gear or shredding sails in the last race of the series, so we turned around once we got out to the course and saw the conditions.
On Sunday, a different race series, I had a good crew, decided to double reef the main and run the course. At the second mark, a 40 foot navigation tower half a mile or so off the ship channel, the boat in front of us got too close and the NNW wind blew his running backstay into the manwalk at the top of the tower. It caught, the mast bent down above the second spreader and then in slow motion snapped above the gooseneck and came down. He came loose from the tower and blew clear. We took our sails down and stood by in case of who knows what. It was so hard to watch. You can't tell much from the wide angle video, mostly our reaction, and I'm waiting a while before posting any other photos or video. Another person contacted me asking if I got video of his J/24 mast folding over the previous weekend.
They had bolt cutters on board to cut it away, mine are now on order from Amazon. There will be a hacksaw, 24" bolt cutters, a big knife, and decent size wire cutters in my emergency kit. What else might be needed?
On Sunday, a different race series, I had a good crew, decided to double reef the main and run the course. At the second mark, a 40 foot navigation tower half a mile or so off the ship channel, the boat in front of us got too close and the NNW wind blew his running backstay into the manwalk at the top of the tower. It caught, the mast bent down above the second spreader and then in slow motion snapped above the gooseneck and came down. He came loose from the tower and blew clear. We took our sails down and stood by in case of who knows what. It was so hard to watch. You can't tell much from the wide angle video, mostly our reaction, and I'm waiting a while before posting any other photos or video. Another person contacted me asking if I got video of his J/24 mast folding over the previous weekend.
They had bolt cutters on board to cut it away, mine are now on order from Amazon. There will be a hacksaw, 24" bolt cutters, a big knife, and decent size wire cutters in my emergency kit. What else might be needed?
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