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The Hobie Cat 16 is one of the world's most widely used light-weight sailboats. During a short outing at the end of the season in North Finistère, a simple dismasting could have had unfortunate consequences
An outing in invigorating conditions
Based in Kerlouan, North Finistère, our Hobie 16 is the epitome of a fun, inexpensive beach craft. It only goes out for a few weeks each summer, is well-maintained, and yet has been around for three decades.
It was late summer, and the woman who was to become my wife was visiting the family home for the first time. Conditions are gloomy, with 20 knots of steady southeasterly and gray skies. Despite the less-than-encouraging weather, I decide to show her the exhilarating sensations our little red catamaran can provide.
A gusty body of water with a strong current
Much to the chagrin of my family, I'm a stickler for following safety rules at sea. As a former light sailing instructor, with a number of convoy operations including a double-handed transatlantic race, I make sure that I have every chance on my side.
At the end of summer, the water is deserted. Even when the weather's fine, few boats venture out onto this stretch of coast between Roscoff and Aber Wrach. There are cobblestones everywhere, a considerable tidal range and a fairly strong current at high coefficients.
I always take with me what I need to take care of myself in the event of a problem: a charged waterproof telephone, a 20m anchor, oars, rockets, food and water, and small tools. This makes our catamaran a little heavier, but racing is not on the agenda. And every outing is done in full neoprene.
But that day, exhilarated by the situation and concentrating on my seduction technique, I didn't take anything on board, apart from two vests which we put on over simple windbreakers. After all, it's just a matter of going for three tacks and coming back.
Dismasting following the loss of an axle
The wind was 20 knots from the east, and the water was flat. Ideal conditions for gliding. Our thirty-something Hobie is a little soft in this wind, but gets away with it. We love the moment.
But on a fast gybe, I watch incredulously as a shroud pin breaks on the way out. The mast tilts forward, but the base is retained in its root. I foolishly pounce on the loose shroud to try and straighten the mast, but the half-sphere quickly pops out of its housing, and the rig falls to port.
We're not panicking. We're at the bottom of the bay, but the current will gradually pull us out. I explain the situation to my partner, trying to maintain some semblance of credibility. The lesson in seduction is over.
Knowing the cost of parts on a Hobie, I'm busy tidying up the mess I made. GV and jib are filling up with water. It's a question of not damaging the family support any further.
I lose track of priorities, too busy getting my gear. But after about ten minutes, I realize that we're drifting really fast, heading out to sea, with nothing to stop us. We're close to the coast, maybe 200 m, but most of the houses are already closed in late summer, so no one can see us.
I manage to slightly modify the trajectory of our dismasted Hobie to bring us closer to a sandbank I know well, at the exit of the bay. At this tide level, I estimate the height of the water to be about 1m, which will allow me to descend and slow our drift.
I'm off to the water. It's cold and I made a mistake in my estimate. Good call on the blind man. The water is between 1.5 and 2m high, so I drink the cup several times. But my feet touch the sandy bottom intermittently. I take off my vest, which hinders my movements.
I push our jellyfish raft towards the shore. After a few minutes of effort, I'm waist-deep in water and the situation improves. We end up beaching the boat on the sand, so we can finish stowing the sails neatly.
We'll be sailing again the next day, but only after changing the lost axle. No other damage was reported.
Navigation without safety equipment, an aggravating factor
The total absence of safety equipment changes incident management. With no means of communication, no means of stopping or countering our drift, and no assistance nearby, the situation could evolve rapidly. The current would have taken us towards Virgin Island, some ten miles away.
Our situation was far from catastrophic, but could have become quite uncomfortable, especially as after 1 hour of hard sailing, there was water in the floats. If we had drifted for several hours, the water level might have risen.
In any case, we've learned our lesson from this little reminder that we always take on board an upgraded version of the compulsory equipment, whatever the conditions or the medium on which we're sailing.
