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STORMVOGEL - 1978
STORMVOGEL - 1978
Jacek Pałkiewicz2006-06-17 14:59:41
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finished as a prize-winner in every race for which it was entered. Perhaps its most famous victory was over the American boat "Ticonderoga" in the Trans-Pacific regatta in 1965.
" It was staggering", a member of the American crew recalled, "The wind was blowing at 40 knots. The two boats were skimming over the water at more than 20 knots, with full gaff-sails and a heavy spinnaker. The waves were breaking over them both. The Ticonderoga's boom attachments snapped and its mast was damaged, the Stormvogel lost its boom completely : despite these mishaps, both boats did more than 250 nautical miles in 24 hours. After 2200 miles, the boats were still neck and neck just 70 miles before the finish. As they approached the Molokai Straits, the wind was at 30 knots, the 40 knots again as the two boats entered the Straits. The Stormvogel managed to get its nose ahead in a thrilling finish. We were upset at losing, but it was impossible not to admire how the other boat and its crew performed", he concluded with awe, despite the race being so long ago.
The Stromvogel's performance stunned everybody at that time. Nowadays, the "monsters" which participate in the "Whitbread" round the world yacht race use high technology to obtain -sometimes - results that the Stormvogel achieved years ago. Stormvogel, incidentally, means "stormy petrel" in Dutch, the petrel being a bird which can fly in even the worst weather conditions.
One night, when you could still see the outline of the coast in the light of the moon, a slight lapping sound made me walk to the rail and look over the side. In the gloom I saw a figure swimming amongst the softly shining plancton. It wasn't a mermaid, quite : Laura, one of our party, is a beautiful girl who never missed the chance to take a bathe.
Dawn the following day was heralded by the crowing of cocks in a nearby island settlement. Perhaps they were fighting cocks, for the islanders still keep the birds for this purpose. Thier powerful cries were immediately followed by a chorus of other birds. The light shone forth, revealing dense vegetation which reached down to the rocky shore and to the untouched sands where a few brightly painted wooden houses were standing, their boats drawn up almost to the front door. The inhabitants of the village soon arrived alongside to sell us bananas and hats made of palm fronds. We bought - very inexpensively - a crate of green bananas which we knew would ripen in a few days and several necklaces which were alleged to be made of coral but which were, in fact, made of worthless small stones. We refused to buy tortoise- shells. We did not want to encourage the slaughter of the few surviving examples of this species.
A youth invited us to listen to a reggae concert on the beach that night. This music, which was originally African, was made famous by Bob Marley. The bands which play this music are miracles of improvisation: as percussion instruments they use oil drums, sawn of at different heights to make genuin music.
The sun was burning red when we anchored in Saint Lucia bay : bungalows were hidden behind hedges of hibiscus, showers of bouganville covered the rocks, the roads were flanked by Christmas flowers higher than a man's head, humming birds darted from plant to plant, dazzled by the choice of flowers. Behind us the sea sparkled, dark blue, clear blue, green, turquoise, emerald and finally, as another day drew to a close, deep purple.
I remember the Stormvogel, 2008-05-03 07:34:34
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French Polynesia Gallery
Very enjoyable and fast for the time with daily runs of about 200nm. I remember being on watch at the wheel in the middle of the night surfing down large swells at 15/16 knots. Pity it had to end in Grenada.
Hamilton Mcdermott, 2008-11-12 15:24:09