2:18 AM Tue 13 Apr 2010 GMT
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'L-R MangoGroove’s crew of owner Brian Shuttleworth, daughter Robyn and crewman Hamilton Farmer - Sail Port Stephens Week 2010'
Andrea Francolini ©
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It seems not even his daughter's suspected broken foot is going to stop skipper Brian Shuttleworth from hitting the start line of today's second Commodore's Cup race. In fact her X-ray, which was scheduled for this morning, is now likely to play second fiddle to repairing MangoGroove's broken boom vang.
'We are meeting the shipwright in 10 minutes,' said Shuttleworth just now, worriedly holding up the broken part at the breakfast table.
'Then, if there's enough time we will drive Robyn this morning to Stockton for imaging before the race starts at 12.30pm. Otherwise she can come out with us today and I'll drive her this afternoon.'
Robyn has a plaster cast to the knee and is walking on crutches but still fronted up for last night's official Commodore's Cup welcome party - making good use of the cosy couch at the Shoal Bay Resort and Spa. This morning she says she is quite comfortable and seems prepared to spend another day on the water so her dad can satisfy his passion for sailing.
MangoGroove had had a rather shaky start to its Sail Port Stephens regatta, but this hasn't dampened the owner's enthusiasm at all.
Brian and second mate Hamilton Farmer spent the morning trying to pick up crew from around the waterfront but were still short-handed until they made a phone call just before 11am (the race started at 12.30pm). They were soon joined by a family of three, including their 10 year old son. No problem that the new crewmembers were a little green around the gills as far as sailing experience goes, and they all got on so well that assuming the broken vang can be repaired in time, the family will join MangoGroove's crew again today for the second in the series, the Pub to Pub race.
Prior to leaving the dock yesterday, 18 year old Robyn fell heavily on the boat and spent the entire three hour race down below deck with her purple throbbing foot in cold water and sleeping through the pain.
The Beneteau First 40.7 from the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club in Sydney was five minutes late for the start, they broke their boom vang rounding one of the islands of the three islands course and then they spent four minutes beached after running aground on a sandbank in the bay - and they still managed to place ninth from a fleet of 13!
Such is the lure of Sail Port Stephens that Shuttleworth is literally jumping through hoops, his daughter less so, to make sure they are on the starter's list for today.
www.sailportstephens.com.au
by Lisa Ratcliff
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