Early exit from the Southern Ocean

Steering failure! Not long after my last blog, disaster struck. I was
alone at the helm, crew on the foredeck preparing for a sail change when
the sea started to pile up behind me. The video replay shows me glance
over my right shoulder, helm to port, glance again, helm harder to port,
glance yet again this time with more urgency. By this stage the horizon is
starting to tilt at an usual angle. "Grab the spokes of the helm" had
been the skippers advice previously, so with one final chance I grabbed a
spoke and heaved the helm over, determined to keep Singapore heading down
the face of the wave and avoid a broach. Then, without any drama, the
wheel gave up all resistance and Singapore started a long gentle parabolic
curve up to towards the wind. The wave passed under us without further
incident, but the damage had been done. The loads involved had forced the
steering quadrant to fail, the screw threads on a locating collar
stripped. Despite efforts to fix the problem onboard, we were unable to
find a solution robust enough to endure a further 3,000nm racing under
Southern Ocean conditions. So it is with regret that we are now bound for
Melbourne to pick up the essential tools and parts to complete the repair
ourselves. We are still in racing mode, albeit at reduced speed. The
secondary system involves a system of blocks with 4:1 purchase and two
people to turn the tiller - one to port and one to starboard, with a third
person watching the course and calling the shots. As the tedium set in,
calls of "port.... centre.... port... starboard...." were replaced by
"Adelaide..... Melbourne....". By the time we arrive at Port Phillip we
will have steered over 700nm under tiller. The mood onboard is mixed,
some glad to be out of the Southern Ocean and back in warmer water, others
like my self disappointed that we have been robbed of the challenge we
came to face. But we all have one thing in common - determined to be on
the next start line on 4th December, fully rested and all systems
functioning. The "Race" is not over yet - there are ten more races with
plenty of opportunity to move up the leaderboard once again.