Everest Horrizontal Update - Tim Kent

September 18, 2003

I am sending this update out today for a couple of reasons. One is that Sunday, September 15th was the anniversary of the Around Alone start, another is because I wanted to provide a further update on the plight of EVEREST HORIZONTAL.

One year ago, I was emotionally spent as the gun fired for the start of Around Alone. The previous six months had been like an insane roller coaster ride - things going well, things appearing hopeless, things going well again. That roller coaster ride would continue all the way around the world; the continuing autopilot problem on Leg 1 was hard, but the great reach up from the Azores was fantastic. On Leg 2, all of Class 2 was driven into port by a huge storm, but we garnered our first 2nd place finish that leg. Leg 3 brought the infamously smoky diesel and a total electrical failure - just finishing that leg was a victory. Leg 4 saw us lose our headstay just 1,000 miles into the leg - but we rounded Cape Horn, the sailor's Everest! Leg 5 brought us a crazed storm just 200 miles from the finish, but also was our most competitive leg. All the way around the world, it was all of you who made this happen; the hats and t-shirt you bought, the e-mails of support, the donations - without you, I never would have made it.

Needless to say, with the capsize of EVEREST HORIZONTAL on the return leg of the Bermuda 1-2, the roller coaster is still in operation. After abandoning the boat, recovering her was a wonderful high; we had her back in Bermuda - minus her rig and with her electronics destroyed, but clean and proud, ready for a refit.

Then we were dealt another blow - another trip on the roller coaster. Hurricane Fabian swept over Bermuda, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake - and EVEREST HORIZONTAL was not spared. At the height of the storm, her mooring lines parted and she was driven onto the rocks in St. Georges Harbor (photos below). We did not return to the Atlantic Ocean three times to search for and then recover this valiant boat to let her languish on the rocks. Thanks to a donated plane ticket, I will be heading to Bermuda next week to patch her up. EVEREST designer Jim Antrim is joining me there to assess the work ahead; EVEREST is badly damaged but - thankfully - not destroyed. I must get her back to the U.S. to prepare her for a refit.

At the lowest point of the Around Alone Race, I never imagined that we would find ourselves in this sad shape. If you would like to help us get EVEREST back to Charleston Boatworks, you can help by buying some of the great EVEREST HORIZONTAL gear we have in stock or making a donation on our website www.everesthorizontal.com. Or just send some of your good wishes our way - they mean more than you know.

Tim Kent