Rescue Recap, Ruyant's Record Win

AHOY! Welcome to I'dRatherBeSailing. We're a sailing newsletter, but if we were a magazine, we'd have a center console in our centerfold. 😏 

In today's email we have:

• Rescue Recap: The 5 Minute Sinking in the Golden Globe Race.

• Ruyant Record: Route Du Rhum record win time. 🏆

• Read 'round the Web: 3D printing boat parts. 🤖

As one of my best friends, and best sailing buddies likes to say "sailing is the most extreme slow moving sport in the world". The Golden Globe Race this week has been nothing but. For those that haven't been following, here's an update of the past couple days.

The Rescue

A sailor's worst nightmare. Tapio Lehtinen, who was racing in the Golden Globe Race, woke up in the middle of the night to a bang. 20 seconds later he was out of his bunk, water already flooding in. 5 minutes later he was in his life raft watching his boat, Gaia 36 ASTERIA, sink. This is what happened:

• November 18, 06:54 UTC: Tapio activates ASTERIA's Emergency Position Indicating Response Beacon 460 nm SE of Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

• 08:52 UTC: Tapio activates his life raft's Personal Locator Beacon, indicating he had likely abandoned ship.

• Cape Town's Marine Rescue Coordination Center contacts nearby commercial vessels to divert to his position.

• Another Golden Globe Racer, Kirsten Neuschafer, who was 107 nm away, alters her course to his location.

• November 19, 05:10 UTC: Kirsten is the first to arrive on scene.

• Swells are 2-3 meters, with 20 knot winds, and she has difficulty locating him.

• 08:05 UTC: Kirsten confirms she has retrieved Tapio from his life raft onto her boat, the Minehaha. Then, she reports,

"They shared a good glass of rum"

Now thats what I call a rescue on the high seas. But here's the best part: In the middle of it all, he kept a glacial level of cool, and gave Neil Armstrong level epic one liner reports. 

Tapio, from his life raft:

"You can't get any closer to the ocean. I love it, but this is close enough. Thanks for looking out for me."

A man who can keep his sense of humor, while his ship is literally going down, should be a role model for sailors. We're happy you're safe Tapio, and hats off to Kirsten for her selfless rescue.

Ruyant Wins

Thomas Ruyant is unofficially crowned 'King of the TransAts', with his win of the 12th Route du Rhum in the IMOCA Class.

"Hollow eyed, wobbly legged and exhausted after setting an infernal, unbeatable pace especially over the last three days and nights of the 3,542 nautical miles course from Saint Malo to Pointe-à-Pitre."

Ruyant set a new course record of 11d 17h 36m 25secs . . .  Beating previous 2014 record holder François Gabart by 11 hrs 02min 30seconds. 

"A late starter to offshore and ocean racing, Ruyant, who has the wiry build of a jockey and sails with an extraordinary intensity and focus, admitted he pushed himself to the limit, stepping up to a new level to overhaul leader Charlie Dalin on Friday morning, holding off the pre-race favourite on Apivia, the clean sweep of all three IMOCA solo titles of 2022."

Just look at that victory smile. Bravo, my guy, bravo. Enjoy the bubbles.

'Round the Web

While cruising round the 'ol sailing forums, as one does, we came across this interesting post. 

This deserves more attention, much more than can be covered here, but these are my off-the-cuff thoughts

Thoughts: 

• That is incredibly smart.

• Huh, how come I never thought of that.

• I'm thinking of all the little plastic pieces I've broken on a boat that could be fixed.

• What about the boat rocking, and print stability?

• The comments are talking about filament strength. I bet they don't know about UV LCD 3D Printers... (they're much, much stronger).

• I bet a nautical based library of .stl print files would be pretty useful to have on board...

• I should take a 3D printer sailing.

• That would make a great I'dRatherBeSailing first hand report...

• Damnit. I went down a rabbit hole.

Question: are you intrigued by the idea of 3D printing boat parts, pieces, or even just testing out the concept? Would you like us to test it out next time we go on an extended cruise, and write about it? There doesn't seem to be anything on YouTube about this topic yet, we checked. We're all in uncharted waters now. So this might be a great idea, or might be a terrible one, we don't know yet!

That's all for today, stay salty and stay safe out there!