The PowerBar Three Peaks Yacht Race
Stormer Dismasted
Rob Howard / 26.06.2007
Having completed the course this far, they were on their way to Fort William when disaster struck. “The forestay snapped,� said Chris Jones, “and the mast went over the side. It fell very slowly and fortunately, none of us were in the way.� The crew marked its location, called the Coastguard and started the motor to return to Whitehaven.
AF Switchgear were worried yesterday they would suffer the same fate. Their forestay was damaged and the mast wobbled but they were able to take sail down and limp into Whitehaven, taking about 4 hours longer than expected.
While their runners are on the mountain they are looking for replacement parts, in Whitehaven and Maryport. Skipper Dave Bird said, “If we can’t get the parts we’ll have to order them for tomorrow and carry on then!� (The leaders are likely to be in Fort William by then.)
Another team suffering mechanical problems are Fantom. One of their runners took an ultra light road bike and all who saw him set off shook their heads and said, “It will never survive the forest track at Ennerdale.�
It didn’t. It came back in Race Director Meic Ellis’ car and one of the narrow tyres had 7 puncture repairs on it! The pair will share one bike for the return, taking it in turns to run. (Apparently he does own a mountain bike, he just didn’t bring it!)
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