March 24, 2019
Torture of István Kopar
"This is the happiest day of my life … And this (Le Sables-d'Olonne) is the best place … The capital of offshore races," said Iswan Kopar, who finished fourth in the world tour of Golden Globe Race, finish.
Istvan added something to these words: “It was torture for me. My autopilot stopped working practically from the first day of the race. As for the boat, there were no problems, but I had it. Luck was clearly not on my side I think I’ll finish with the sailing spore and take up gardening instead. "
Let's remember, offers #EsmeraldaOK, how Istvan started the race.
The 66-year-old yachtsman from Delray Beach, Florida, has had constant steering problems almost from day one.
According to Ishtvan, he failed to properly test the operation of the steering system before the start of the race.
The first time he reported a problem was July 10th. Adjust the work of the autopilot failed. 7 days, spent almost continuously at the helm, exhausted Stephen so that he decided to go to Chichester class and make a stop to repair the autopilot.
It turned out that the delivery of spare parts requested by Ishtvan for repair will take a week. Such a long stop is not pleased.
When Istvan was anchored, he realized that his autopilot was incorrectly assembled (the autopilot blade was installed incorrectly). He was inspired by the nocturnal reflection in the calm water when he stopped in the port of one of the islands of Cape Verde.
Autopilot could be repaired on their own!
Istvan asked to return him to the #GGR main standings, because he did not go ashore and did not receive any outside help. The Organizing Committee granted his request, appointing him a 6-hour penalty for parking in the port and another 18 hours for the unregulated use of his emergency satellite phone.
And that was just the beginning.
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When Istvan entered the waters of the Southern Ocean, the fresh water in the tank deteriorated. From that moment on, it was very dependent on rain. There was a time when there was almost no fresh water left, and the nearest shore was at least a thousand miles away.
Another problem was black mold growing inside the boat. Attempts to remove it were unsuccessful, because the boat was damp. And dampness is exactly what you need to mold. The weather did not allow to air and dry the cabins. There was so much mold that it affected the health of Stephen. His nails turned black, I even had to call up with the doctor several times about their treatment.
It was impossible to breathe air inside the boat, to say nothing of sleep and rest. Imagine that you are in such an environment for months. On the street, too, uncomfortable – in the Southern Ocean Istvan literally moved from storm to storm.
On November 20, a navigation error led to Istvan entering the forbidden zone in the Southern Ocean. For this, he received a penalty at 6:40.
At that time, he already had 18 hours of fine for a stop at the port on the islands of Cape Verde. In total, it turned out 24 hours and 40 minutes.
Usually, the skipper spends time in the “penalty box”.
If the yacht was a car, you could just stand on the spot. But for a yacht in the open ocean is not an option. Therefore, the skipper should spend the penalty time in the area bounded by some coordinates. The coordinates are chosen in such a way that the yachtsman could not get close to the finish line. In general – an analogue of parking on the car.
Kopar had to work out the penalty time at sea. But because of the constant problems with steering and health, the organizing committee of GGR decided that this additional time would be simply added at the finish.
On January 1, Istvan round Cape Horn. He used this unique opportunity to disperse the ashes of his father there.
Do not forget that with all this Kopar continued to tirelessly repair the steering mechanism. There were a lot of problems. In the mechanism of the autopilot broke gear. Istvan tried to circumvent the problem using an emergency steering wheel. But the emergency steering wheel also broke. Istvan spent the last supplies of epoxy resin on his repair. It's good that the finish was not far away.
Istvan acknowledges that his efforts were rewarded, because he managed to solve all the problems that arose along the way.
Of course, many problems would not have arisen with more thorough preparation. But do not forget that Stephen had a very limited budget. And the fact that he managed to get to the finish line, says that he used the available means very rationally.
331 March 24, 2019 # 8866
Chief Editor
istvankopartorture
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