Ripped sail on Unlimited Sailing / John Merricks

by RYA on 11 Aug 2006 On the morning of day four in the Round Britain and Ireland Race, Farr 45 Unlimited / John Merricks have faced their first major repair after their main sail split while sailing up the west coast of Ireland.

'We’ve had a bit of drama on deck this morning,' 22 year-old Connor Myant from London reported. 'We went to put another reef in the main and the main sail suddenly ripped.'

Ed Hill of Guildford was quick to get out the repair kit and test his recently learned sail mending skills.

'We got all the sails down and Ed got to work,' Myant continued. 'An hour later, following some spray glue, patching, kevlar strips and some hand stitching we’re back in action and running at full speed.

'We had quite a good turnaround and didn’t lose too much time with the repair and now we’re back to fetching towards the Shetlands. We’re still hoping the wind will shift around so that we can get the boat on a reach. She really enjoys a good reach and we’re hoping to get her going.'

'We were a bit disappointed when we learned that we lost a place a couple of nights ago, but our goal for this trip was to be competitive by simply finishing the race which will be a major accomplishment. I think the whole crew is chuffed just to be out here and to still be leading the majority of the fleet.'

Unlimited Sailing / John Merricks is being crewed by members of the Volvo RYA Keelboat Programme with an average age of just 23 on board. The boat and the Round Britain and Ireland Campaign are supported by Unlimited Sailing, the Peter Harrison Foundation and the John Merricks Trust.