Sydney 40 loses rig in collision

First yacht casualty at Cowes - the full story. Moral: Tack early - Thames barges are faster than you think...

This morning there was an expensive crunch when the 86ft long 1895 Thames sailing barge Thistle - the oldest surviving iron sailing barge - ploughed into the side of the Sydney 40 Blue Genes.

At the time Blue Genes' owner Keith McCullagh said that they had not been racing, but were out practicing, as some of her crew had not turned up. They had not taken the start line and had attempted to get through to the race committee on several occasions to tell them they weren't racing, but without success.

The incident came about from a port-starboard incident on the island side of the Solent, half way between Cowes and Lymington. Thistle was reaching across the Solent on starboard tack while Blue Genes was on port. McCullagh said they had been late spotting the barge and then thought they would cross it, but he and his Sydney 40 crew had failed to apreciate the speed of the barge. "We tacked away, but the rudder stalled and we couldn't bear away quickly enough," commented McCullagh. "It was just one of those unfortunate incidents. We were on starboard and she didn't have room to take avoiding action."

The carnage was over in a split second. Thistle's bowsprit took out both Blue Genes' running backstays. A dinghy was slung on the starboard side of the Thames barge from davits and these took out the Sydney's shrouds and her mast.

Despite the shock of the damage, McCullagh admitted he had been mainly in the wrong. "I think we were not in the right place," he said. "They were too close before we took avoiding action."

Thistle stopped to offer assistance. Meanwhile the crew on Blue Genes were a state of shock. "It was remarkable that no one was hurt," commented McCullagh.

One of the problems the crew on Blue Genes encountered was trying to hack away the rig. Rod rigging is tough stuff and all they had to cut it was a hack saw. They salvaged the mast, but unfortunately in the process the propeller was fouled and they had to be towed into Hamble Point marina.