2 thoughts on “Diana”

1. (IMO) Topaz wasn’t trying to avoid Svea, but trying (quite legitimately) to tack on top of her. The deck activity should have been quite apparent to Svea’s crew. It would seem that Svea simply didn’t allow enough room as she went under Topaz’s stern.
   The repair bills and/or insurance claims will be astronomical!

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2. That collision brought back sharp memories of Rawhiti T-boning Prize at Mahurangi some years back (1997?).
   Just before the start I was down to leeward grinding the Yankee when (after a failed port/starboard avoidance) Rawhiti’s bowsprit arrived and ran over my left shoulder. I fell back and looked up at all this timber and bob-stay passing overhead, followed by her bow. The bowsprit hit Prize’s boom and luckily, as Rawhiti’s bow climbed on board (exactly as in the J-Collision) her bowsprit rode up and over the boom and punctured the mainsail.
   Had it slid under I would have been nailed and, as Prize was still moving forward, it would have swept through the cockpit and destroyed the entire crew.
   The bowsprit slid along the boom as we moved away, ripping the foot of the mainsail it until it dropped off the end of the boom with a crunch, the stainless steel dolphin striker punching a neat 1-inch hole in the aft deck right between the main sheet hand’s legs.
   Another stroke of luck, the force of Rawhiti dropping off the boom and onto Prize’s aft deck, caused her to pitch up, pulling out of the hole it had made and passing safely over the now prone body of the mainsheet hand (Ian Aiken I think).
   On the way out, Rawhiti’s bowsprit collected Prize’s main and leeward backstays and as we separated, Chad (I think) had the presence of mind to tell us all to duck for cover. The tension came on the backstays as Rawhiti moved away. Prize’s mast took a helluva strain until the bronze block from the leeward backstay shattered, Rawhiti’s bowsprit snapped and the whole shebang of backstay wires and shrapnel came hurtling back into the cockpit and rattled around on the deck.
   No one was hurt.
   Oh not true ….. I was, I got a cut finger when I was dragging the leeward backstay back on board.

   Once we had dropped the main and tidied up, the adrenalin took over and we all jabbered insanely for the rest of the day.

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