The Golden Gun

The Gunboat 66 ‘Sugar Daddy’ got her rig stepped mid-morning a few weeks ago in Cape Town, and was sailing later that afternoon. Conditions were 25-30 knots from the SE.  Table Mountain was set with her cloth, and her bay was set with white caps.
Timid with a new carbon multi-million dollar project, sails went up for gentle loading on various downwind points. Billy Black bounced out onto the Bay in a RIB too small. “Pics, or it did not happen”.  With conditions too rough to pace the Gunboat, we aimed the Golden Gun at Billy.

After a few fly-by passes, a small Karver mainsheet block rolled over with a failed lashing, and our 1st day of sea trials was complete. We actually found something to fix. The final fly-by was 23 knots of boatspeed, with 60 degree TWA, and the weather hull kissing the wave tops.

Day Two of Sea Trials coincided with the Volvo start. Puma skipper Ken Read, during his tour of Sugar Daddy the evening prior, off-handedly remarked, ‘I really do not want to see you pacing us tomorrow.’ Some friends of ours still mention the Safari-Carrera video.  No worries, we went out to celebrate the amazing Volvo Race and its start, and cheered on friends in the race from a respectful distance.