Red Hot Chocolate's Meltdown: Saturday 19th June 1999
The 19th of June 1999, sailing out of Pwllheli on a course round the St. Tudwald Islands, back to Pwllheli fairway buoy and then down to Butlin's Head was quite an exciting day for Tony and myself. The weather was very pleasant with a southerly 10-knot breeze and a reasonable sea, Red Hot Chocolate my Mk 1 Pandora, formerly Pink Panther, was performing very nicely and apart from rather a big swell as we rounded the islands the first half of the trip was uneventful.
On the run back the wind built a bit but that just made the spinnaker run more exciting and 9.+ something on the log was the best I had managed out of Chocolate since I bought her from the Menai 12 months previously. At the rapid approach of West End beach, and a backing of the wind it became necessary to jibe the spinnaker which unfortunately resulted in a messy spinnaker wrap round the forestay, aggravated by the jib halyard wrapping round the wrapped spinnaker!!! Lesson; move the jib halyard back to the mast out of the way before a jibe.
Some time later, with a very exhausted crew and an anxious look on the face of a young lad making sandcastles on West End beach we managed to drop the chute and raise the number two jib before jibing and making for Butlins Head. The wind meanwhile was increasing and the sea building but still the Pandora was behaving impeccably and was really relishing the conditions. Turning seawards to beat back for Pwllheli from Butlins we felt the full force of the wind and sea conditions. The wind was a steady 20 to 25 knots and some big waves kept me on my toes on the helm.
The big waves however were not stopping us as much as that short sharp chop does and I felt quite comfortable at the way the boat was handling everything. Apparently my mate was not so confident, probably because when you are not steering you tend to stare in wonder at the seas around you and worry about all sorts of things. After several rather large seas passed under the boat Tony suggested that the situation was getting a bit hairy and it might be prudent to free off and get back to base as soon as possible. I assured him that all was well and that the boat was handling like a dream. A few moments later I said, "Tony, the rudders just come off, will you take the mainsail down please?" He of course told me to "Stop messing about and get me back to Port." But the motion of the boat soon convinced him that I was NOT pulling his leg.
Unfortunately the rudder had not come off completely. If it had we could have steered the boat with the sails!!! Wind now gusting 45 knots. More probably I would have dropped the main, inserted the outboard into the water and made Pwllheli without too much trouble, using the outboard to steer with and the jib for propulsion. The rudder however had only parted company at the bottom pintle, and was being pendulummed from port to starboard crashing into the outboard bracket making it impossible to fit the outboard. With the mainsail down and by twisting the tiller with all my strength I was able to maintain a course towards the Fairway Buoy at about five knots, but the larger waves and gusts easily knocked the boat off course and then the rudder swung up to hit the outboard bracket, and it became obvious that the rudder would have to go before it ripped the transom off the boat.
Leaning over the back was rather hazardous but armed with a pair of pliers and mole grips I managed to remove the top split pin and anticipated the long pintle falling away allowing me to ship the rudder and tiller. No such luck. The pin would not come out either way despite some very well aimed blows with the mole grips. I asked Tony to make ready a flare, which he did, but in the meanwhile we had attracted the attention of a Portmadoc boat, 'Steady Aim' who stood off us and eventually shouted up the RNLI. We did not have any radio [Lesson number 2 ] Steady Aim recorded maximum gust at 48 knots.
Whilst waiting on the arrival of the Lifeboat we dropped the jib and I tried to control the rudder by twisting the tiller without much success being nearly exhausted around the forearms by now. At no point did either of us feel that the Pandora was going to let us down, nor did we ship any water although Tony did fall backwards down the hatch cushioned by a crumpled mainsail and twisted spinnaker. It must have been at this time that the sum log was smashed, the spinnaker pole end bent, and the flare broken!
When the inshore lifeboat arrived some 40 minutes later and tied alongside, the quieter motion resulted in the pintle sliding through the gudgeon holes and the rudder, tiller and extension disappearing to the bottom of Cardigan Bay. Some time later we arrived at the mooring safe and sound. Beware !! The replacement rudder etc cost £1500. Nearly enough to write off the boat.
Hindsight : Carry a radio, sledgehammer and large spike. Would anchoring have enabled me to remove the pin? My new pin has rather a large ring at the top for me to get hold of. Heavy weather sailing is fine so long as nothing serious breaks and you end up without a boat for the rest of the summer.
My thanks go to Malcolm on 'Steady Aim' and the crew of the Criccieth Inshore Lifeboat.
P.S. My mate has now sold me his share in the boat!!!
© Bill Stacey
