JV Slugfest–Cheyenne Disintegrating: It’s going to be a miracle if Cheyenne makes it to the finish without falling apart completely. The latest near-disaster was discovered when some odd creaking was heard from the starboard bow area. After so many miles, these guys are tuned to every “normal” sound the boat makes, so the new noise sent Fossett and Nick Leggatt racing to the bow. What did they find? Oh, just that the hull was about to separate from the beam. Fossett picks up the tale:

“The carbon and steel bushing holding the front beam to the boat had broken in the middle and worked out halfway on one side. Another two hours of this upwind sailing and it would have finished coming out, the beam separated, and the mast fallen over from lack of support. That was a close call.

We will be relieved on Wednesday when we are done with this pounding from sailing upwind in the Tradewinds.”

You can click here if you’d like a more detailed account from Watch Captain Brian Thompson. It’s hard to push the boat when you are always worrying about something important breaking. But one of Fossett’s strengths is the ability to impose tight discipline in situations like this. Even though it’s apparent that the weather forecast is starting to look pretty good for a fast finish, and that Cheyenne has a shot at a sub-60 day circumnavigation, Fossett is the kind of guy who will make the crew sail at 10 knots all the way home if that’s what it will take to get the boat home safely and ahead of the record–even if he breaks it by just five minutes. We’ll see how it goes…



“Hmm. I wonder what the rules say about starting as a catamaran and finishing as a monohull. Better check it out…”