The Mistral was howling as we headed outside the harbor at Puerto Cervo ready for the long-distance race. A 6-8 hour sail round various islands was the course for the day, and the team was pumped with the anticipation. We tuned up early and rolled into the first start of the day with the other Swan 60s and 601s. At the one minute gun we were stacked up at the committee boat end, with two boats looking to shut us out – with seconds to go we had to bail out and spin back round, along with another boat at the pin end (over early). As we rounded back up onto the line a cluster of race committee support boats was discovered between us and the line, which became a problem as one went full throttle into our bow, breaking our bowsprit, the powerboat, and one of the powerboat crew. Not an auspicious start to the day. With an injured man on the powerboat, we doused sails and sent our intrepid doctor into the mess of fiberglass and stainless steel to administer bandages and other medical things. The injured party was then evacuated from the scene, we cleared the line and went to douse sails and head in to the dock to sort out the boat.

It was confirmed that the injured parties were ok, and just down to the usual fun of getting redress – which was duly granted. The team went to work on the boat to get it ready for tomorrow – now without a bowsprit as we continue the saga of the Swan 60 (or 57.5 now). The crew all elected to continue racing with a wounded but not down boat – such is the way with our bunch. Tomorrow is another day. Maybe our luck will finally change after we either sacrifice a virgin (if we can find one), or drink enough lucky red wine, tonight at the villa.

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