The Caribbean Compass
March 2006
Morning Tide is High Again!
by Peter Morris
The story begins at a New Year's Eve party in Trinidad on 31st December 2004, when a boat owner was speaking about a yacht that he had been unable to sell for more than three years. The story sounded intriguing to me and it was suggested that an inspection of the yacht take place the following day.
What a surprise! As we arrived at the boatyard it was immediately apparent that this was one of the world-famous Sparkman & Stephens 34 yachts that, for their size, are among the world's fastest boats to windward. And the outside seemed in fair condition.However, as we climbed aboard it was obvious that there were major problems: rotten timbers, corroded spars, non-functional electrics, broken winches and the like. It was reaching the point at which a decision to cut her up was not too far away.
After viewing some 30 used sails, some circa 1985, I asked the owner if he would consider a low offer for the yacht, as it needed a great deal of work. A price was suggested and immediately accepted and the renovation began.With the help of local joiner Victor Nicholas, we stripped out all the rotten timbers, corroded parts and the like, and over a period of approximately six months the yacht was almost completely re-built. The re-construction included a lot of new joinery, but because of budget considerations a lot of items were repaired or refurbished rather than being replaced. The hydraulic backstay was non-functional and the manufacturer had gone out of business, but a former employee of the company was tracked down by e-mail and the unit reconstructed so that it worked perfectly.
The yacht was re-launched in May 2005 and everything seemed fine, but the next morning it was half full of water - a seacock had failed during the night. The boat was hauled out again and all of the underwater fittings replaced to avoid any further recurrence of such problems. We re-launched again a few months later.
When Trinidad's racing season began in December 2005, Morning Tide was entered in the Cruiser Racer Division and she performed well, as yacht and crew started to tune themselves for competition. After one local event, the topic of conversation turned to the Grenada Sailing Festival 2006 and we decided that Morning Tide would make this her first overseas regatta following her re-construction.The crew for Grenada comprised myself, my daughter, two experienced crew from the USA and a guy from Canada, none of whom had sailed together as a crew previously.
With everything in place, on the day planned for our departure we were concerned to hear of extremely rough seas offshore. All of the ferries between Trinidad & Tobago had been cancelled and most of the other competitors from Trinidad indicated they would defer their departure to Grenada until the weather improved. Morning Tide was not to be deflected, however, as we were confident our yacht could handle the conditions. We cast off around 9:00PM.
The passage to Grenada was fast and rough, with winds over 30 knots from time to time. The next day we made landfall off Prickly Bay, using our GPS to navigate into the harbour. It was warm and sunny and we were delighted to arrive into such an idyllic setting.
Although I had previously competed in many major yachting events, including two Admiral's Cup competitions, many years of RORC Offshore Racing and the Quarter Ton Cup, I had not sailed competitively for some 20 years. We were all a bit concerned as to whether or not Morning Tide would be competitive and if we could get the best from her.This was our first time racing in Grenada, so we took care to use the GPS to avoid rocks inshore and to navigate around the courses. The format of two or three races in a single day was unusual but worked very well, giving a chance to recover from mistakes and increasing the excitement level.
Almost as soon as the racing started, our questions were answered: we were right on the line at the start in a great position, and Morning Tide went streaking away into the wind. As each race passed our performance improved and by the end of the first day we were shown in provisional first place. What a revelation!
The wind in Grenada was firm or strong most of the time and in these conditions S&S 34 yachts are known to excel - especially if well trimmed. We soon discovered that we could more than hold our own and crew morale was very high.
But, on visiting Race Headquarters at True Blue Bay next day we were shocked to hear we had been disqualified from Race 3 on Day 1 due to a protest from another yacht. We did not know a protest had been lodged and we had not had any opportunity to refute whatever was being protested. We appealed to the Race Committee, asking for a hearing, but our request was denied - and our crew felt very aggrieved.But we made a unanimous decision to re-double our efforts and overcome the disqualification by sailing even faster in the upcoming races - and that's exactly what we did. By the final race from Grand Anse back to Prickly Bay, Morning Tide simply flew past the larger competition - to windward - and was even giving the racing division boats a surprise.
By the end of the week we were absolutely thrilled by our achievement. We brought back a derelict yacht to racing condition and we sailed her expertly to a magnificent result. The crew were fabulous and my daughter, who was previously into computers, is now an avid sailor who cannot wait for the upcoming Grenada Round-the-Island Easter Regatta.Special thanks are also due to the two Norwegians - Henning and Lars - and to Dave from the USA who joined us some days to help with grinding winches. Everyone worked very well together and we would all like to sail together again.
While we were moored in Grenada several people informed us they remembered Morning Tide from years ago, and we understand she won Antigua Race week under a previous owner many years before. Morning Tide was built in 1969 and was the next boat out of the mould after Morning Cloud, the famous yacht owned by British Prime Minister Edward Heath who used her to win the Sydney Hobart race in Australia.
Morning Tide had a fast trip back to Trinidad where she is being fitted with a new twin-spreader mast and a new suit of modern sails. So watch out! The new rig should improve her light weather performance and improve reliability - at least we hope so.
In May, Morning Tide will be at the Angostura Race Week in Tobago and she will remain in Trinidad in regular use for the coming year. Needless to say, I'm delighted with my purchase and have already been well rewarded for all the hard work to restore her.