40 metres, winning by 3 secs. With the first leg of the triple event under their belt Hannes‘ crew, Italian Anselmo Mauri and English racers Miles Jennings and Ed Williams-Hawkes, felt confident for the next two heats.

Damage Repairs

The crew hadn’t noticed or felt any problems, other than numerous bruises, but they were soon to discover more serious damage to the boat.  There was a crack in the hull from the canopy down to the chine over two metres long on the port side.

It looked initially like a lamination problem but when they inspected it out of the water, at the ‘XS 2000’ Workshop at Somerley, on Lord Normanton’s estate, the full extent of the drama was seen.

Nicolini had built the boat in two parts resulting in the cabin box bottom resting on the hull but it had only been fixed to one side.

A flexing movement and stress from the canopy and the crew compartment during the race transferred to the hull, resulting in a huge ‘Z’ shaped crack that took over 48 sleepless hours by the ‘Wettpunkt’ team, led by Anselmo, to repair.

The only light relief during this was the spectacular Daily Mail Centenary party celebrating the anniversary