Falmouth Rally - 6th-8th August 2004
Introduction
The photos of the Falmouth Rally include some of the recovery
of the Longboat Cruiser Heron from a capsize. As
most of you know, capsizes are a fairly rare occurence in Drascombes. So that
you can draw some lessons from the event, you should be aware that the following
factors contributed to the capsize:
- the wind was SSE F3-4 gusting 5
- in the River Fal the wind became very gusty
- a guest was helming the boat
- the helmsman was not familiar with the mainsheet cleating arrangements, which were a long way from any standard arrangement, and was not able to release the mainsheet when a gust hit.
Luckily several other Drascombes were nearby, and after the capsize assisted with rescue and recovery. One crew member got rather cold in the water and was taken back to Mylor as a precaution, but no one suffered any lasting ill effects.
Malpas Photos
The photographs of the rally fleet at anchor off Malpas were taken by Richard Waller, who lives in Malpas. His interest was caught by the arrival of the Drascombes as his family used to own a Lugger. We thank him very much for allowing us to use the photos.