The sinking of Buccaneer

At the start of the racing season in 1984 I went down to Cornwall with Jenny - we had accommodation with Des and Margaret at the Roseland Inn, Philleigh. On a sunny blustery Saturday in May it was decided to have a race of our St Mawes One Design 16 footers.My brother Rob and I owned a new one called Buccaneer, built by Jonathan Leach. Rob was away at sea so it was down to me to helm her and find crew. So - I sat with the rest of the O.D. fraternity in the lunchtime session outside the Rising Sun, St Mawes basking in the sunshine whilst nervously watching the trees bending in the force 5/6 wind. Kathy Dunn had said she would crew for me but I needed another so I asked Gawain Bysouth's young girlfriend Maria Hancock if she'd like to go. She didn't really want to go, being very nervous but agreed to sail. From memory we had Rainbow, Robin Hood?, Outlaw, Vesper and Early Mist to race against and the race began still in bright sunshine but blowing hard. By Lugo buoy we were sailing at the back of the fleet reasonably happily but once out into the Roads the full force of the force 6 Northerly hit us and we hung on for dear life trying to keep the boat upright. I think it was one long beat on port tack all the way up to North Bank buoy which was to be the windward mark. We shipped water all the way and with Kathy and Maria being so light we all had to sit right out and couldn't get anybody down to bail out. Bty the time we laboured up to North Bank buoy all the other boats had been there and gone - Rainbow with Chris Leach helping was the nearest to us in front and she headed off to the St Just shore to bail out ion calmer waters. With Buccaneer full of water up to the top of the centre-plate box I prepared to round the mark but as I did the boom came crashing round and kept on going taking the boat round and over and down - diving under water! Although fitted with buoyancy bags, the stern one deflated and Buccaneer sank on her starboard side and floated about 6" below the water.We three ended up in the sea. Kathy had been hit on the forehead by the boom and had a tremendous egg-sized lump. Maria had taken off her Javelin jacket and was very frightened.None of us were wearing life-jackets, the sea was quite choppy and I was terrified people would get their feet entangled in the rigging and be dragged down if she sank more. There was no sign of any boats around, we were totally alone - the rest of the fleet had sailed back to St Mawes without noticing our predicament as we were so far behind. I was wearing a one-piece sailing suit - old style - no warmth - and the girls were in trousers and jumpers etc. It was cold. I decided to try to swim to the big ship mooring buoy that was about 100 yards away to the south and maybe climb up it to wave my arms in distress fashion but as I started off I noticed a Cabin cruiser heading out of Mylor towards us. Kathy was being wonderful, cracking jokes and trying to calm Maria who was also being very steadfast tho' terrified. Miraculously the Cruiser came to us, towing a rubber dinghy. I got the girls into the dinghy and they were pulled over and helped up onto the boat.I then got to the dinghy and hauled myself on to it but as I lay there thanking my stars - I noticed the Cruiser's propeller had fouled the underwater trailing rigging from Buccaneer - furthermore the forestay had wrapped around the propeller shaft and needed cutting away.It needed a bolt cutter and it turned out there wasn't one on board the Cruiser. Again miraculously, the only other boat visible in the Carrick Roads had come to have a look and they had some bolt-cutters. In a very seaman-like manner they heaved a light line across to me which then pulled across a heavier line which when I hauled on that carried the bolt-cutters across to me in the little rubber dinghy. To cut the story short I managed to clear the prop., returned the cutter to its owners and then found I was too exhausted to heave myself up onto the Cruiser,so I stuck my foot in the air and two or three people grabbed it and my arm and literally dragged me over the guard rail. The girls were wrapped in blankets and warming up nicely below in the bunks and seemed cheerful if a bit tearful. I drank a tot of whisky which I am told now is the wrong thing to do, but it certainly did me a power of good! It turned out the Cruiser was just heading into Mylor when the Skipper who had been watching a small sailing boat labouring up to the North Bank buoy, on looking again, realised it had disappeared and thought he'd better come to see what had happened. Thank God he did. We were taken back all the way to St Mawes where we found a search-party on its' way out to find us - they continued out and found Buccaneer and towed her home underwater. She was beached at Gawain's boat house, bailed out and re-floated, ready for repairs to the rigging prior to returning to winning form under the helmsmanship of brother Robert.