BRINGING MATILDA HOME

The main halyard parted with a bang. James and Nigel were on watch and reacted swiftly to put the boat head to wind as Paul and I donned our lifejackets, grabbed some sail ties, and came on deck to assist. Half an hour later the main was firmly lashed to the boom, which was secured to prevent it swinging around as we wallowed downwind under jib alone. We were still making over 6 knots. A crew conference seemed required to evaluate our situation.

Just 48 hours previously we had moved swiftly through the Kiel Canal and caught a favourable afternoon tide to Cuxhaven, so that we could utilise the predicted easterly across the North Sea. We had left the German seaside town just after lunch the previous day but it had been a blustery night, and ’s crew had repeatedly gybed downwind in the inshore traffic zone that runs parallel to the Frisian islands. Our original objective was to stay