"It was time to pop in," he says, after a night blasting along in a 30ft tri
Pete Goss with crew Paul Larsen and Andy Hindley sailed his Seacart 30 trimaran into Plymouth this morning to retire from the Rolex Fastnet Race, just as I’d predicted in my blog. The incomparable and indomitable Mr Goss told me they had a cracking sail, and you’ve got to love his attitude.
“We got into Plymouth at 0100 this morning,” he says. “We had a fantastic sail up here. It was brilliant. We went from the last boat to start to 12th in the fleet by 1100. We were storming through. We went past a Volvo 60 like it was parked up.
“It got lumpy and started to throw up around Start [Point]. From there on in the seas, big seas built and we cracked off. That was when we took off.
“It was black as anything during the night. There was absolutely no reference at all. Pitch dark. Yeah, it was great. It was very wet. We didn’t need shampoo last night. But those Musto [drysuits] are great, because you can just sit there and enjoy it.
“Then we looked at the forecast out in the Irish Sea. When you’re doing 17 knots on a postage stamp and it’s pitch dark you think: ‘No, no. Time to pop in.’ We came in through the breakwater at 16 knots with just the jib up.”
On hearing about the 93 crews who have retired to date, Goss comments:
“I’d say 93 optimists started and 93 people have made a seamanlike decision. We’re long enough in the tooth to know that.”
This great shot of the three buccaneers is by Ingrid Abery, www.hotcapers.com