When our friend George Byers (AKA Bubba) says he's at sea, he's not just being metaphoric. This is his brief, vivid description of an incident that took place during a recent yacht race off Davis Island.
Seems like George is always off on some seafarin' adventure, to Cuba, Mexico, or the Everglades. We're hoping he'll keep us updated, and maybe become a frequent contributor.
He's also a very fine sculptor, whose award-winning work is widely exhibited.
Yarrr!
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How We Broke The Nan Shan's Mainmast
It was a breezy evening and we were in a hard- driven first place. I was facing aft from the cockpit, tidying up long, wet loops of the mainsheet after hardening up at the first mark. Yes, for you purists, it had been a leeward start.
I heard a sharp report but thought it was the jibsheet popping off the self- tailer. I glanced up to see the masthead and triangle of dacron sliding down the cupped face of the lower part of the main. That seemed very not right, and as my eye followed up the skewed spar I could see the tubular aluminum stick broken cleanly right above the spreader.
Most of the crew was on the windward rail and unthreatened, but the tactician had been standing with his hand on the port shroud when its chainplate broke in two. Thus the turnbuckle and eye were yanked up past his hand. We could tell it had been painful but he kept moving all his fingers.
Other crews, good sportsmen all, checked up on us they whooshed by to vie for our lost lead.
We examined the broken chainplate and could see to our horror that a hidden stress crack had reduced its effective cross- sectional area by 75%. And to think we had been bouncing around out in the Gulf and in the Yucatan Channel and off the coast of the communist island.
-G Byers
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