Richard
Thanks for the anniversary reminder. A146 was already a very well travelled Atalanta before the ’76 OSTAR having done 1000s of miles in the Channel in the lead up to the 1975 Round Britain race under skipper Bill Perkes (see book page).
That 1976 OSTAR was notable for so many reasons. The top one being, of course, the entry of A146. But there were others:
- Highest number of entries (I think ever) at 125 started
- Multi-hulls coming of age
- Alain Colas in his 236′ Club Mediterranée
- The sad loss of Three Cheers and Mike McMullen, whose wife was electrocuted whilst preparing the boat
- Five depressions in quick succession yielding average wind speeds of 35knots for over a week
There are some very intersting articles on the inter web. The Royal Western Yacht Club have a page which includes the full list of yachts and their fate in the race. Rod and Bluff acquitted themselves well given the conditions, although he did not finish within the time limit. There is also an account of the race in the book ‘The Moonshine Logs’ (Moonshine was one of the boats in the race). Google Books allows you to read the OSTAR 76 chapter.
Rod was bitten by the ocean racing bug and went on crew on Flyer in the 1977 and 1981 Whitbread Round The World races.
And Richard, you may find this Yachting Monthly article interesting in terms of tracking Rod down – it appears that there was an attempt at a reunion of the Flyer crew in 2011.
Cheers
Nick