Sea Falcon Races

1981-83 Sea Falcon This was my favourite racing catamaran which never really showed her true paces in races, usually due to shortage of funds and silly breakages. Her first race was the two handed transatlantic race of 1981, where a jammed forestay caused a loss of 8 vital hours and meant a weather system was missed and she finished in 4th position, but she had covered more than 370 miles in 24 hours towards the finish. An attempt on the trans Atlantic record was not successful, although a new British best of 10 days 14 hours was established. In 1982 she was then chartered to a French team lead by Pierre English, but their failure to obtain insurance without RKJ meant he had to go with them on the La Rochelle to New Orleans Race. It was not a happy experience. The French crew did not understand multihulls and insisted on sailing like a monohull and the result was a 14th finish. Turning round in 22 hours, RKJ picked up a young Frenchman, Bernard Gallay as crew and together they sailed the boat back to Plymouth for the two handed round Britain race, arriving 17 hours before the start with both mainsails torn. A 19 hour penalty was inflicted for late arrival, too much to make up in the race, but she participated anyway but lost a further 8 hours off Ireland repairing the mainsail again. Nevetheless finished 4th. 1982 Sea Falcon sailing as Olympus The Route de Rhum in 1982 followed, a French single handed trans Atlantic race from St.Malo to Guadaloupe, but having just taken the lead 5 days into the race, the batteries suddenly caught fire and it was necessary to divert to Madeira for new ones. This put the boat in 22nd position, and although she made up to 14th, a procession at the end meant this was where she finished. After laying up for the winter in Nassau she sailed to Norfolk VA, running into a hurricane off Cape Hatteras. The boat was hove to, one wave nearly capsizing her but it broke over the deck and kept her the right way up. The only consolation for the crew was that the water was at least warm! Another attempt on the Atlantic record became doomed when an Omega block, a high pressure system, straddled the whole Atlantic, and the boat covered a mere 200 miles in 16 days! To finish the year she was entered in the two handed Vilamoura Race, Robin’s wife Sue coming as crew. They were third into Vilamoura but on the return leg were run down off Cape Finisterre and Sea Falcon became a constructive total loss.