YACHTING

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XIII, Issue 285, 17 November 1923, Page 11

YACHTING

♦®*®w*®*®*®*®*®*®*® A NIGHTMARE VOYAGE. THE SHAMROCK’S ORDEAL. THIRTY-ONE DAYS ON ATLANTIC. Sir Thomas Lipton’s 23-metre racing yacht Shamrock, which arrived at Southampton from Long Island, New York, recently, had an eventful voyage of 31 days across the Atlantic (says the “Daily Mail”). A graphic description of the vessel’s experience was by Mr. A. . Smart, a member of the crew, who said: —

“Wo started with a band playing and cheering American crowds- This was about the only bright spot in tlie whole trip, for the same evening a very different band began to play when a gale came along. Various gear was carried away, and while we were reefing the mainsail the mizzen went by the board. We had to cut it adrift to avoid knocking a hole in the hull. “From then on we lived in a sort of nightmare—strong winds and heavy seas, which ripped gear out of her, or flat calms. On September 17, at the height of a heavy gale, the sea run ning was awful. I’ve never imagined anything like it. Shamrock was simply lost in the trough of the waves, and yet I’ve heard people say that Atlantic rollers are never more than 30ft high. I wish they’d been there. “With the fear of death on us. five of us were hauling at the trysail sheet when a solid green one broke aboard. £ got my knee smashed. The others were washed over the side, but hung on and were .washed back- Half drowned—l had fainted and been hauled out of the way—they set about clearing the wreckage. “You can judge something of the weight of water when I tell you that that same wave smashed the lifeboat and the main boom gallows—this latter a solid piece of ash 6ft long by about a foot square. One more wave like that and Shamrock herself would have been match wood. “After that, by the use of oil bags, we eased things up n bit. and since riien although we’ve had heavy seas and strong winds, we’ve had. a fairly uneventful run home.” The injuries to the men proved to be less serious than was feared at first