‘We sold up and sailed away’
‘SOME PEOPLE THINK WE’RE CRAZY’
The Pollard family, Dragonfly, Oyster 56
After three years of planning, the Pollard family made it to the start of the ARC+ but received devastating news; a crack in their mast needed urgent repairs.
“It could have been much worse,” says New Zealander Simon Pollard, pointing to the empty coachroof of the Oyster 56. “It could have come down when we were sailing.”
The family of six were making their way to Gran Canaria when a huge gust hit them in the Strait of Gibraltar.
The wind blasted down the hillside causing their boat, Dragonfly, to gybe, snapping the preventer. Simon’s wife, Amandine, was on deck with their four children, aged four, 10, 12 and 13.
“Simon went down below, I was in the cockpit and we’d just been sailing on the same angle for ages and ages,” she says. “Suddenly there was a wind shift and a loud noise. It just happened so quickly. It’s frightening when you realise how violent the movement is.”
There was no obvious damage at first, but then Simon noticed a crack on the mast near the gooseneck. He made a mark around it and checked it every hour, in between speaking to the rigger and Oyster Yachts. After spending a few days recovering in Lanzarote they motored across to Gran Canaria, where they hoped to be able to fix the mast.
“We thought we’d just need a local repair, but when the yard started sanding back they saw a much larger crack,” says Amandine.
Having sold their house, their share of a holiday home and all their possessions to sail around the world, the couple are understandably dismayed by the prospect of funding repairs. The insurance will hopefully cover 70% of it, but they’ll have to pay the remainder themselves.
“It’s difficult, but it’s not about the money,” says Simon. “Some people think we’re crazy to lose our appreciating asset
