Betreff: SPIRIT OF CANADA UPDATE Absender: "Aroundalone" Empfänger: Datum: 21. Mar 2003 17:09 SPIRIT OF CANADA UPDATE Derek Hatfield continues to amaze and impress race officials and race fans alike with his dogged determination to rejoin the Around Alone and finish his solo circumnavigation. Despite overwhelming odds, the Canadian skipper is well on his way to recovering from a near disastrous pitch-pole at Cape Horn, and looks set to be back out on the water in a little over a week. When he sailed Spirit of Canada up the Beagle Passage two weeks ago it looked as if any hope of recovery would be impossible, but I guess we never counted on how much a fierce determination fueled by a lot of energy coupled with some good breaks could accomplish. Derek Hatfield mit Mastbruch in Ushuaia www.spiritofcanada.net The latest break in Derek's efforts to rebuild Spirit of Canada came from one of his current sponsors, Raymarine. When the boat flipped over all Hatfieldís electronics got ruined and Raymarine have, without much fanfare, offered to not only replace everything he needs but also to send a technician to Ushuaia to install and test the equipment. Itís a huge load off Derek's mind and it frees him up to get on with the task of preparing for the new mast and sorting other areas of the boat. Itís important to understand Derek's current standing in the race with regards to the race rules. In order to reindex a competitor he needs to sail the entire course. He must return to the spot where he turned his engine on (already been documented) and sail from there to Salvador. He will receive a 48-hour penalty for stopping in Ushuaia, and he will receive a 24-hour penalty for being late for the start of Leg 5. (There is not much chance he can sail from Cape Horn to Salvador in the time left once the boat is ready to leave Argentina). Race rules state that a competitor must arrive in port within five days of the start of the next leg otherwise he will be disqualified from the race, except in certain circumstances and at the discretion of the race committee. In this case the race committee has already granted the dispensation stating only that he must reindex in port for a minimum of 48-hours. Derek must then sail the entire last leg. He has stated that he intends to leave Salvador precisely 48-hours after arriving no matter the time of day or night. Finally there is no cut-off date at the end of the Leg 5. If he sails all the way to Newport he will reindex a viable competitor and will have completed the Around Alone. Here is Derekís latest update (in full). An audio link of an interview with Derek will follow shortly. Hello From Spirit of Canada Spirit of Canada lies rafted to two cruising boats at the local yacht club here in Ushuaia. Ushuaia is billed as the World's End for good reason. The remoteness and ever changing landscape and weather is a constant reminder that we are less than 80 miles away from Cape Horn. The process of rebuilding Spirit of Canada is progressing in leaps and bounds. For the past four days, we have been working 14 hour days on the keel and hydraulic system. The challenge was to remove the hydraulic ram from the boat without actually taking the boat out of the 9 C water. To do this, Spirit of Canada was motored to the side of a ship where the ram was removed, flooding that section of Spirit of Canada that houses it. After the 140 lb. ram was wrestled from it's mounts, it was hoisted onto the ship with a crane where the engineers took it apart and replaced the seals and rebuilt the entire ram. This whole operation took about 15 hours over two days. Once repaired, the ram was hoisted back onto Spirit of Canada and taken back to the yacht club where we put the large cylinder back into the boat via brute strength and engineering ingenuity. We used two large 45 gallon drums perched on the sidedeck and then filled them with water, canting the boat to raise the side of the keel box where the ram attaches; out of the water. After a lot more lifting and pulling with long planks as levers, the ram was back in place. Tomorrow the hydraulic fluid will be repalced and the ram reattached to the the top of the keel and tested. The broken stantions have been rewelded and are ready to be installed on the deck. The interior of the boat is slowly being cleaned and reorganized. It is amazing how far some of the small loose pieces travelled during the rollover. We are still finding bits of repair kits and tools lodged in weird places. My titanium fork is still missing. The interior of the boat has been completely cleaned of diesel fuel. The fuel was being used in the hydraulic ram as a replacedment for hydraulic oil and had leaked from the reservoir during the rollover. It sloshed around inside the boat for the day while I reached Ushuaia, making the inside of the boat a virtual skating rink, not to mention the smell. I feel very fortunate that the windows in the coachroof were not compromised by the engine cover that broke loose from its brackets. The cover actually punched a hole in the fiberglass coach roof about four inches away from one of those windows before landing in the nav station, destroying the Mini M satellite phone. We have been in contact with the mast builder to ensure that the mast is well on track for delivery on the 28th March. He assures us it will be ready. Once ready, it must be trucked 3500 kms before it arrives here 3 days later. We are hoping that once the mast is here, I will be sailing within 4 days. To bring all the different parts of the sail plan together, we have been organizing the mast from King-Harken in Buenos Aires, sails from Quantum in Toronto, runners from Aramid Rigging in Newport, rope from Marlow in England, computer hard drives from Conneticut, electronics from Raymarine in New Hampshire, jib furlers and a indexsail battcar system from Harken USA, standing rigging from Denmark, various parts and boat pieces from Genco Marine in Toronto and electrical components from Thornton Marine Electric in Oakville. Each piece is critical to bringing the boat back to life. Interviews with the media are being conducted daily and we are finding that the support both in Canada and outside are overwhelming. We are extremely thankful for ongoing support from Andrew Pindar of Pindar Group, Al Power of Decoma International, Belinda Stronach of Magna International, Murray McKercher of InfoComm Canada, and Gordon Crowe of Gordon Crowe Associates. Along with these supporters, there are literally hundreds of individuals who have worked nonstop to raise the awareness of the Spirit of Canada Challenge. A special thanks to Josh Hall, Ann Harley, Brian Chapman, Peter MacAuley and Luis Viera who provide ongoing support via fundraising efforts, website and logistical support. Without all this support from the various parts of the world, I'm afraid that Spirit of Canada would be spending a long lonely winter here at the World's End. More soon. Take care Derek --- Brian Hancock great.circle@verizon.net Copyright © 1996-2016 - SEGEL.DE