Cornwall - snapped reefing line

Joanna Spencer-Smith

Overcast with ENE winds initially 16kt increasing to 20kt) which swung round throughout the day to SE. We gave Start Point a wide berth to avoid any overalls as there was already a swell of about 1.5m (I’d taken a sea sickness tablet so was ok). All was going well we made fine progress with one reef in until one gybe (about 40nm in) and the reefing line snappped! We popped in the second reef and continued on our merry way. Boat speed was reduced from 10kt to 7kt, but still acceptable progress. We had chosen to follow the coastline (around 40m contour) to avoid the higher speed winds in the middle of the bay. Turns out this was a good call as a securité message told us a war ship was shooting live rounds and to give it 6nm clearance right on our path if we had taken the shorter route. Arrived at Falmouth in the rain!