Noumea Race- Beau Geste would have taken a minute to sink says skipper

by Richard Gladwell on 5 Jun 2012
In an interview with Radio New Zealand, Beau Geste skipper Gavin Brady has compared the 80ft Farr design to being close to doing a 'OneAustralia' after the yacht sustained damage in the Evolution Sails Sail Noumea 2012 race.

Speaking from Norfolk Island where the yacht is anchored an awaiting assessment, Brady said that she was close to sinking, and they were advised to get off the boat by the designer. Because the wind was blowing at 50kts at the time, they elected to stay with the yacht. But all crew were assembled and counted off on deck. Half had been below decks when the break was noticed.

The hull fracture break occurred around 1850hrs on June 4, 2012. One of the crew noticed a crack in the deck which ran right around the hull. Beau Geste immediately began taking on water.

To hear the full interview with Radio New Zealand's Mary Wilson, click on the link below.



In an interview on 3News, Brady said that there were big waves, when the breeze increased and a big bang.

He told of how another crew member discovered a crack in the hull.

'As it turned out one of the crew members was walking around the deck and tripped over a crater in the deck of the boat, and that set the alarm bells off, we looked over the side and we had a crack all the way down underneath the boat and below the waterline, and from the inside of the boat it was cracked, so it was cracked on both sides which is pretty catastrophic.'

http://www.3news.co.nz/Crew-feared-yacht-would-split-in-half/tabid/309/articleID/256754/Default.aspx!Click_here_for_the_full_story_and_video