AAPT survives savage knockdown to finish second

• NEWS
• 29 Dec, 2004 03:09:00 PM

AAPT survives savage knockdown to finish second

Sean Langman and his small crew of eight managed to pull together to right the boat

A savage knockdown on the second night of the 2004 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race almost ended AAPT’s race early but Sean Langman and his small crew of eight managed to pull together to right the boat and sail their way into second place.

“The second night was all about survival - five minutes on our side felt like an hour,” said Langman, recalling the moment his boat lay at 90 degrees.

“We were trying to get further west and using too much of the waterballast and it knocked us down.

“We dropped the jib, moved more water into the other side (of the boat) and said ‘let’s just survive this and get the mast pointing towards the sky.’

“It was a reality check. Time to get sensible and just get to Hobart. 

“We pretty much dropped all the sails and in the end, made a decision to head back to the coast and seek shelter.  We figured we’d be in mid fleet by then but when we came back out we were right beside Brindabella and decided we needed to start boat racing again.

“I’m just really pleased that we made the decision to slow the boat down, nurse the boat and finish the race.”

The 20-metre AAPT survived the harsh conditions well, with only a winch ripped off the deck and a mid-ocean encounter with a floating log.

“We hit a log and I thought ‘Beauty! We’ve hit something and everything’s still attached’,” said Langman.

Commenting on the canting keel design which the 98-foot supermaxi Skandia’s race to an end, he said the canting keel technology was in its early days in terms of engineering and there was still work to the done. 

“It’s a good concept and it will stay with us," said Langman.

It seems Langman is always the bridesmaid, having come third overall in 2003 and second overall in 2002, but he’s not giving up yet.

“It’s still unfinished business – I’ll definitely be back,” he said with a wry grin.