Grundig’s World Record Attempt- ‘Radical sailing, mad stuff’

by Rob Kothe Sail-World on 23 May 2002 News from the Southern Ocean, after Sean Langman and his five crew aboard the 66 foot Grundig abandoned her World Record attempt.

‘It was radical sailing, mad stuff. We blew out the 1.5 oz (spinnaker) and broke the steering pedestal off 15 and half hours into the ride. That helped us to decide we were not going to make the 500 miles. Close but not close enough but at least we had a go!

We are plodding north with storm jib and no main, we just need to rest, we are absolutely exhausted,’

On Tuesday the fastest monohull sail-boat in the southern hemisphere, Sean Langman's 'skiff on steroids' Grundig sailed fast into the Southern ocean, attacking the World 24 hour speed record for monohulls.

With winds sweeping from the southwest, the runway stretched 900+ miles toward New Zealand, not exactly a crisp white salt lakebed, but a lively southern ocean seaway.

The current world record was set by the German Volvo 60 illbruck Challenge during leg seven of the Volvo Ocean Race when they achieved a 24-hour run of 484 nautical miles on April 29-30 2002, as they swept north along the American east coast, in the surging north flowing
Gulf Stream.

Grundig, an extended Open 60, now with 66 feet of waterline is faster than the Volvo boats
off the breeze and certainly has the capacity to take the record if the conditions are right.

Grundig blasted south easterly, straight-lining in the strong gradient winds, she was sailing in a
slight south-easterly current, but it only provides a fraction of the elevator effect that so
advantaged illbruck.

As Hobart sailors know the south moving east Australian current with a summer southerly
buster produces a slamming seaway. Grundig had not up till now had a good ride yet into the
southern ocean. Three attempts in the Hobart race have seen two aborted attempts with hull
delamination in 2001, a shredded mainsail in 2000 and back in 1999 she broke off one of her
twin rudders and limped into
Hobart.

But this was a different set of sailing conditions for the thoroughbred off the wind racer. With
20-25 knot winds across the deck, Grundig was shy reaching southeast towards an area of
gale force winds and conditions began to build and build. It was beginning to be a wild and wet
ride.

'This record attempt will succeed if there is enough runway' said Ian 'Buggsy' Potter,
Grundig's shore based master navigator.

Potter and Roger 'Clouds' Badham, Australia's best-known offshore weather expert could see
that the intense low, now stalled between Bass Strait and New Zealand would continue to
feed the south westerlies.

However, if the system started moving to fast or their was too much influence from a number
of small troughs embedded in the weather system then that could cruel the record attempt.

Eight hours into the challenge, the boat was hard on the pace, but then these light patches
began to show in the 10-minute average speeds, coming down from the satellites. Not such
nice numbers, as 17's, 16's and 15's were mixed with the 20's, 21's & 22's.

During the night the same trend continued, then the wind increased.

Now it would have be a new 24 hour start, for some hours the wind fluctuated but finally this
morning a third of the way to New Zealand, the six man crew realised they were in the
softening weather system, the runway was closing down. The powerful low was no longer
stalled it was moving away from them.

Without the gale force south westerlies, which had them power reaching at speeds up to 30
knots last night, they could not expect more than 450 miles from their 24-hour run.

A little before 7am, they called Sydney Radio and advised that they were abandoning their
record attempt, then turned north easterly under storm jib and no main, absolutely exhausted.
The boat is now making for Southport in Queensland.

Sean Langman said, 'It was a lot of fun, we had a go and there is always next time'

On our event mini-site, www.sail-world.com/grundig there is the sat tracking chart and the speed, position data log, courtesy of Terravision www.sat.com.au