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Isbjörn - Autopilot Anarchy ... Crew Boycott



Not once have we used the freaking autopilot ... NOT ONCE!

The eager crew has hand-steered for the last 480 miles with zero consideration for the autopilot; instead, they "call it."

Walter gets ready one hour prior to his 2000hr shift, preps himself in numerous ways including a technical read of Marche's Seamanship text, then boisterously proclaims: "I call the helm for my 8pm shift (period). No one argues, instead they each vie for every opportunity to get a grip on the wheel and drive the bus.

Senator Tom Harken is no exception ... although, to me he's much more than a legislator, Tom is a former Navy jet-pilot. He flew F4s and F8s from an aircraft carrier. Despite Tom's self-inflicted wound to his index finger from his own knife a couple days ago he got while cutting away our rally-number-sign tied to the lifeline ... Tom grabs the helm every time he's on watch, splinted five-stitch finger and all. And for good reason, Tom is an awesome helmsman! I call him Mr. Smooth. He coaxes Isbjorn into a straight-line groove with boat speed to kill for.

While the autopilot sits idle, not even a thought is given to its task. Everyone aboard takes keen interest, learning how to optimize the sail-trim to balance the helm for swift passage to the Caribbean. Two styles of helming have been coached from my secret playbook, and by golly the crew gets into the groove more often than not proven by result as we sail past other yachts.

At twilight today, we hope to add spinnaker helming to the curriculum ... Mid-Atlantic ocean and the world has never felt so good.

Capt. Paul Exner
Honorary skipper for Isbjorn


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