"4ft of very fast moving mast pierced the deckhead"

Curses. Gartmore's dismasting upset Ollie Dewar's plans for luncheon

The one event that pushed all others into the background took place 1,200 miles SW of Land's End.

While about to prepare lunch, a gourmet tin of 'Ravioli a la Royale', a very loud, high pitched bang (imagine 20 plastic loo seats being slammed down at once) shook the boat, quickly followed by the expensive and distressing sound of splintering carbon fibre.

Up until this point my concentration had been devoted to the ravioli cooking instructions ('plongez cette boite dans l'eau bouillante'), but I became entirely distracted by the sudden appearance of a four foot section of very fast moving mast piercing the deckhead and imbedding itself in the main fuel tank.

Bolting through the hatch on to the deck I was greeted by the extraordinary sight of the mast still under sail with one reef in 35 knots of breeze, all standing and running rigging in place, the sails still fairly well trimmed but the mast at an unnaturally drunken angle lodged through the deck three feet from where the yacht's designers had intended it to be. I was, though, proud to notice that we were still making 14 knots of boat speed. While the enormity of the situation sank in the mast snapped again and toppled gracefully over the side.

It is said that the most efficient bilge-pump is a frightened man with a bucket: certainly two highly focused and motivated men armed to the teeth with hacksaws and knives can very effectively dispatch a broken mast to the ocean's bottom in a short time. Especially so when the mission is made more urgent by the risk of the semi-submerged mast, or one of its spreaders, puncturing the hull below the waterline.

With our paying guest, David, steering (he must have wondered what on earth he had bought himself in to) Josh and I began cutting through anything attaching the mast, sails or furling gear to the boat. Cutting through the steel V1D1 rod rigging was an interesting task; bent, twisted and under immense load from shifting directions they presented a very lethal threat of injury.

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