By Ian Grant.
Casey Smith has been forced to experience a longer than usual time studying the cold and inhospitable nature of The South Atlantic Ocean after the dismasting of the Volvo race sloop Puma on Monday.
Naturally the dramatic incident was not the result the experienced professional Sunshine Coast Ocean racing sailor was expecting.
However a report from skipper Ken Read has confirmed all the crew are safe but extremely disappointed.
At the time Puma was handling the 23knot breeze and moderate 2.5m seas comfortably when the carbon-fibre mast failed snapping in three places as the rig fell into the sea.
Puma was in the middle of nowhere, 2100 nautical miles from the first leg finish line in Cape Town when the crew were forced to recover the 31m broken spar and sails from the sea and prepare a jury rig.
They were reported to be making slow progress at a peak speed of 5.9 knots for the closest land the remote South Atlantic island group of Tristan da Cuhuna where they will dock alongside and receive 500 litres of diesel fuel from a visiting cargo ship.
As expected in spite of their predicament a report from Puma confirms the spirit among the crew remains high as they have moved from experiencing a challenging race to a far more challenging adventure to reach Cape Town in time to re-rig for the second leg of the race to Abu Dhabi.
Meanwhile Team Telifonica racing under skipper Iker Martinez continues to maintain a stranglehold on being the first yacht to sail into Cape Town.
However following the dismasting of Puma her skipper and crew have accepted that no victory is certain until they receive the official signal.
In a report shortly after hearing of the dismasting Iker Martinez said “This is a disappointment for the Puma crew”.
At the time of the dramatic and expensive incident Puma was presenting a real challenge to be the first yacht into Cape Town but that challenge unfortunately ended when the call of rig down alerted the off watch members who were enjoying a meal below deck.
They have been trained for the best and worst experiences of a Volvo Race including the adrenalin rush of recording their career best sailing speed surfing the ‘growlers’ in the screeching sixties to being becalmed in the equatorial doldrums however the unfortunate dismasting has bonded Team Puma to meet the challenge of sailing a slow course for Cape Town.
For the award winning Volvo Globe Race sailor Casey Smith being temporarily stranded a long way from the far friendlier climate of the Sunshine Coast in summer only remains as a distant memory as he deals with his day to day job as a professional deep sea sailor and living the dream of adding another Volvo Race finish to his impressive log book.