Before the start, someone asked Sam Davies if she wanted to emulate Ellen MacArthur. Sam replied that, although she enjoyed sailing hard, she had no intention of driving herself to the point of misery as Ellen regularly did.
It’s difficult to imagine someone revelling in sailing just north of the icebergs, but I can’t believe anyone could fake it – not even to give a sponsor good value. Sam has submitted several videos and photos showing how much she’s enjoying the ride, while making throwaway comments about various non-trivial things she has been up to in the name of keeping Roxy’s performance up to the boat’s reputation.
Just after she had been out on the end of the boom making a temporary lashing to compensate for chafed reefing lines, the vang gave way. If she’d been out there at the time, she’d have been catapulted into the air and could have become another stretcher case, but she illustrates her report with a photo of her on the foredeck, holding up a Happy New Year placard – with bare hands… (Click on the photo to enlarge it).
It must be difficult to hang out with this girl without feeling a bit of a wimp by comparison.
