Oops - I think we're stuck

Mumm 30 leaders Mad Cow Hide come acropper off Beaulieu

More bumps and bruises early today in the Mumm 30 fleet when on the first beat Darren and Georgie Baker's Mad Cow Hyde hit the bottom near Beaulieu.

The Mumms had a committee boat start along with the with Class 9 included Shirley Robertson's 1720 Skandia Life.Mad Cow Hyde got off to a cracking start alongside Shirley and started tacking down the mainland shore, pulling out a substantial lead after they'd got into clear air. They were just about to tack away from the shore when they suddenly found themselves sitting stationary in two feet of water.

Mad Cow were stuck hard on and were forced to call for assistance. They were towed off and immediately returned to Cowes Yacht Haven to be lifted out in order to check the keel for damage.

While Mad Cow was being lifted Darren Baker described what happened: "We were leading on the first beat by at least 150 metres and were planning to keep our lead by sailing cleanly and taking no risks when we just stopped dead. We must have hit a lone lump of mud or rock because the rest of the fleet were just sailing around us and much closer inshore, but a great job done by the Venturers search and rescue". Their tactician Sean Barber said "one minute we were reading two metres under the keel then we were just sitting in two feet of water".

Mad Cow are now busy getting her bulb keel filled and faired. They hope to get another cracking start tomorrow to keep them on the podium.

The rest of the Mumm fleet continued around the course in 28 knots of breeze and 35 knots in the gusts making for very exciting racing and some sore limbs for the crews. These gutsy, oversized dinghies suffered many broaches and the crews found it a testing day for boat handling.

David Evans' Asterix took line honours today after a close charge to the finish covering William Edwards' SardonyxVl and Malcolm Thorp's King Louis.