Rallying to revive a dream

By ROBIN BAILEY

Sitting in a partly deflated liferaft alongside the remains of your yacht miles from land can be a defining moment for any sailor.

For Chris Sayer, it looked like the end of a dream. He had been racing toward Auckland from Sydney after a incident-filled start to the build-up campaign for his second attempt at winning the Mini Transat. This is the race across the Atlantic he first contested in 1999 in a wooden boat he built himself. That time he finished third out of a field of 70.

He had planned to do it again next year in a high-tech composite boat that he called Up the Blue (the title of a book written by his World War II veteran uncle). Early signs had been encouraging. The new 6.5m (21ft) racer had already blitzed a field of yachts, some of them almost twice his size, in the Round North Island Race this year.

He then sailed solo to Sydney for a two-handed race back to Auckland that started on April 27 with Jonathan Gravitt as crew. They started well, but lost the rig just days into the race because of a minor gear failure. They got back to Sydney under jury rig, repaired the mast and Sayer was sailing solo back to Auckland when the boat hit something at speed (container, log, big shark, whale or whatever).

The keel was ripped off the yacht, which for a time stayed afloat and upright. That's when everything single-handed sailors prepare for came into play. "The aim is to get back to land unaided," he says, "and for a time this looked a possibility."

It wasn't to be. Getting the liferaft out of the wrecked hull involved some underwater gymnastics, but he managed it. The rest of it went in survival-textbook fashion. When it became obvious help would be required, he activated the EPIRB and settled down to contemplate the future. It was his first call for help in 80,000 nautical miles of ocean sailing.

He had lost everything he owned. As a result of his own error the liferaft had partly deflated.

The dream that began in boyhood of going from 1999 and 2003 Mini-Transat success on to the Around Alone and the Vende Globe was shattered.

Things looked better when the RNZAF Orion appeared overhead, and prospects improved as a Taiwanese fishing boat turned up, having been directed to the liferaft by the Orion. Then came the transfer to the frigate Canterbury, diverted to collect him on its way back to Auckland from Australia.

Eight years of effort and everything Sayer owned went down with the yacht.

To successfully mount another campaign will require $250,000 (which is about the cost of an America's Cup mast or one set of spinnakers). The response to the appeal under way to make that happen, being co-ordinated by friend Paul Bosher, has been encouraging and help is still coming in. The Sayer support team is also seeking a naming sponsor for the new yacht.

Among the offers of assistance was a call from the marine technology team at Unitec, where many of the region's boatbuilders learn their trade and where Sayer was a student.

In a session this week with Chester Sherab, who is head of the school, and Rob Shaw, who looks after the marine section, along with Murray Dixon, from composites company High Modulus, a range of options was laid out.

Before any decisions are made the sailor will be bringing designer Brett Bakewell White into the loop. But he is keen to see the trainee boatbuilders getting the opportunity to work on a project that gets them into leading-edge construction.

Sayer has also had an offer of help from Vaudrey Miller, the yard where he built Up the Blue. The replacement yacht is getting closer.

Companies that have offered to support the campaign with product and/or services include: A. Foster and Co (Harken sailing equipment); Adhesive Technologies Ltd (resin); Altexdevoe Ltd (paint); Bakewell-White Design (yacht design service and consulting); Boat Haulage (transport for yacht); Doyle Sailmakers NZ and Contender Sailcloth NZ (new set of sails); Enertec Services (electrical switchboard and battery); High Modulus (composite materials package); Mike Rees Castings (keel bulb); Navman and Absolute Marine (electronic systems); QPod Systems (management services); RFD (safety equipment); Sailors Corner (equipment); Southern Ocean Ropes (all cordage); Touch of Gloss Ltd (assistance with building); Unitec Marine Technology (assistance with building new Vaudrey Miller Yachts - workshop space and materials); Weaver Marine (custom hatches) Yachtspars (assistance with rig).

Boating New Zealand magazine and the New Zealand Herald will provide editorial support for the campaign.

* How can you support the Solo Atlantic Trust Appeal? See coupon in the Marine section of the paper version of the Weekend Herald.