John Levin
Ian Henderson from ISLA
ISLA was not able to obtain sponsors, so all expenses have been their own.
Ian Henderson built and skippered the boat. Elske, his wife was the navigator.
Their two daughters, Zazzie (7) and Lola (4), wore harnesses and lifejackets for
the duration of the four day experience. They were seasick and mostly asleep
during this entire ordeal. When awake, they were calm and resilient, although
very weak and dehydrated. “We have renamed them the BBK’s – bounce back
kids.” Within half an hour after reaching land, they each had an enormous
chocolate milkshake! Elske was prepared for home-schooling as their plan was
to have a year long sabbatical, starting with the race.
“We have renamed them the BBK’s –
bounce back kids.”
The worst weather ISLA experienced occurred between 10am and 12am on
Sunday. No one was injured, though the whole crew was severely seasick.
ISLA hit a submerged object at some point during the storm, which damaged
the propeller, and the saildrive was sufficiently displaced to cause water inflow
into the starboard engine compartment. The engine seized, resulting in an
electrical fire. Sails were dama ged and a number of lines were lost overboard.
One of these lines wound around their remaining prop, causing the loss of the
remaining engine. Their retirement from the race was a result of the water inflow
into the engine compartment and the loss of the engines. During one ascent
up the face of a wave, they were hit by a second rogue wave from a different
direction – their built-in fridge fell out at that point.