ARC Day 9: Never a dull moment aboard MackenSea!

We had an uneventful 9th day, moving along nicely and holding on to the #1 position in the Cruising Catamarans Group. What could go wrong!

The excitement of the day came when we hooked a fish—a big one! Byron worked tirelessly for at least 20 minutes, trying to reel it in, but the fish kept running out the line. Unfortunately, it eventually got off the hook before we could even catch a glimpse of it. All that was left was Byrons blistered hands. For you Scottish folks, a variation on the Burns classic, "Ye banks an brays oh bonny tuna.....an aul thats left is blisters on me" Not long after, the line went out again, and this time we successfully brought in a beautiful Mahi Mahi. We prepared ceviche, but it didn’t have enough time to marinate before dinner, so it will be tomorrow night’s starter.

Dinner tonight was pasta with spicy prawns and clams—absolutely delicious!

A Gentle Jibe - we thought

As part of our routine, we reviewed the weather and route plan after dinner, before it got dark. Following today’s review, we decided it was finally time to jibe and head a bit further south. The winds were steady at 23 knots, and the seas were relatively calm with about 2 meters of clean swell. We were sailing on a starboard tack with full main and jib. To optimize our sail plan, we rigged an extra sheet on the self-tacking jib to pull it out more, providing extra power on this point of sail. Surprisingly, this configuration has been delivering excellent performance—cruising at an average speed of 8.5+ knots and hitting a top speed of 19.1 knots.

All crew were on deck as we prepared to jibe.

• Byron and I managed the extra sheet on the jib, hauling it in with its regular self-tacking sheet.

• Byron centred the main on the traveler.

• Timour hardened the mainsheet (he really hardened it, no accidental jibes here).

• I turned the boat to execute the jibe.

Then before we got a chance to ease out the mainsheets—BANG! The boom swung to port fast and hard.

The boat was immediately turned into the wind to take the pressure off the sails while we investigated the damage. Upon inspection, we found that one of the two blocks connecting the mainsheet to the traveler car had broken free, and the second block was hanging on by a thread. Not good!

We quickly rigged “double preventers” to stabilize the boom and put three reefs in the main—this being the fastest way to safely reduce sail. Everything was stable for the time being. Phew!

“Just Get Through the Night”

By now, it was completely dark. We decided to rig something temporary that would “get us through the night.” My solution would have been to drop all the sails, start the engine, and revisit the problem in the morning. However, Timour and Sylvie had another plan ready to act on—and act on it we did.

Their solution was simple but ingenious:

• Create a makeshift “traveler” by running a line between the two cleats on the sugar scoops.

• Secure the two mainsheet blocks to this improvised traveler, mimicking the original setup.

There was one big problem: the crash jibe had destroyed not only the two blocks connecting the mainsheet to the traveler but also the block connecting the mainsheet to the boom. With no spares suitable for this purpose, it was time for a scavenger hunt on a dark boat. After some effort, we found three spare blocks on other parts of the boat and used them to fabricate the temporary solution. After a bit of tuning, this setup worked well and gave us confidence it could hold the main with three reefs.

Surprisingly, even with this setup, we continued making over 6 knots. Good enough for the night, but we knew we needed a more permanent solution for the second half of our crossing.

A Morning Fix and Back on Track

The next morning, Timour woke with a revised design. His plan involved doubling the lines to distribute the load more evenly. He fashioned a strong loop out of multiple strands of Dyneema, protected inside a Dyneema chafe guard. This loop was used to secure a second block to the mast, allowing us to rig a second mainsheet.

This solution required three additional blocks, which we managed to find by stripping unloaded blocks from other areas of the boat. Once implemented, this rig proved even more secure than the original factory setup. With renewed confidence, we shook out two reefs, leaving a single reef in the main, and continued sailing with the jib hauled out.

We were back to cruising at an average of 8.5+ knots in 20-23 knots of wind and relatively flat seas.

Lessons Learned

After the crash, we reviewed everything and could not find any fault in our execution. The boom was centered on the traveler, and the mainsheet was firmly locked in the winches. We concluded that the fitting was simply ready to fail and chose that moment to let go. Since picking up the boat, we’ve been careful not to push it too hard, and there had been no accidental jibes to stress the system. But on boats, things break—and this time, we were lucky to recover without further incident.

Gratitude for the Crew

Every member of the crew rose to the occasion, staying calm and positive, and helping wherever they could. I’m incredibly grateful for their teamwork. Special thanks go to Timour and Sylvie—true professionals who kept the boat moving under sail throughout the operation and devised a solution that not only worked but got us back on track rather than limping along.

Thank you both—I’m so happy to have you onboard.

Here is the damage, you can see the "thread" that saved our boom. If anyone has any metallurgist friends please pass this to them for analysis:

Here is the fix:

Boom connection:

Right back at it!

But we did lose a place:

Song of the day:

Bits and Pieces, The Dave Clark 5