Wow! Thanks, Bart.

Scotty


"Bart" wrote in message
ps.com...
Sustained winds of 45 knots (52 mph) for over 30 minutes.
Peak winds were 49 knots (56 mph). 2 boats sank--many
bent masts, broken bits, and ruined sails.

An account from the 2006 Soling Worlds

(During the 2006 Soling Worlds in Annapolis, MD, a full
gale blew
through the fleet on Friday, October 20th. American Peter
Galloway, who
finished 5th overall in the event, provides his account of
the storm.)

The wind was at 20-25 knots and building fast for the
first lap of the
race, and we now were getting ready to round the second
windward mark,
just behind Canadian Bill Abbott. It was far too windy to
set chutes -
probably 35 knots at that point - and on our first gybe we
blew out the
vang. Despite sailing the leeward leg with the boom skied
(ever try to
gybe without a vang?), we managed to remain in control.
However,
conditions continued to worsen for the third weather leg,
and we were
forced now to completely rag our sails to stay upright.
Others were not
as lucky at this point, with boats now sunk around us or
with dropped
sails and bailing like mad.

When we got within 100 yards of the final windward mark,
then it got
really windy! Maybe 45+ knots. We now had so much water
onboard, and
with all sails ragging, we essentially stopped forward
progress against
the huge sea, which prevented the drainage bailers from
keeping up with
the constant waves of incoming water. We realized it was
now time to
save ourselves.

We went to drop sails (the jib took care of itself by
blowing off the
headstay), got ourselves into a safe condition, and bailed
the boat.
That took about 45 minutes, but during this time we were
drifting
toward the eastern shore. When we were about a mile from
it, we
recognized that we would have to fend for ourselves if we
wanted to get
back to Annapolis. The RC boats were far too busy trying
save
themselves and others in more serious trouble. One boat
lost its
engine, and others could not make headway. It was bedlam
everywhere.

Once we were safe, I crawled forward and hanked on the
jib. We were
able to sail back upwind to Annapolis, bailing
periodically but doing
about 4-5 knots through the water. We arrived 1-1/2 hours
later, fully
exhausted, and only about the 10th or 12th boat to get
back in. Others
trickled in over the next couple of hours, with everyone
having a
harrowing tale to tell. The German team (reigning world
champions) had
its skipper knocked overboard when the boom clocked him.
They got him
onboard safely and dropped sails, then drifted under the
Bay Bridge,
where a crew member swam to a piling with the anchor line
and tied them
to it. Once bailed out, they could set the jib and sail
back.

In the end, two boats completely sank, there was one
broken mast, plus
a half dozen or so bent masts. Every single boat had
something broken,
but in the end, thank goodness everyone was accounted for
with no
serious injuries. - Peter Galloway, event website:
www.solingworlds.com/worlds/2006