Losing Alchemist: We speak to owner Mark Wynter and Seamanship Award winner Jeff Worboys
by Mark Jardine 13 Oct 2016 11:19 BST
13 October 2016
The team of Workout with skipper Jeff Warboys holding the Round The Island Race Seamanship Award and Mark Wynter, Commodore of the Island Sailing Club and owner Alchemist to his right © Mark Jardine
We spoke to Mark Wynter, Commodore of the Island Sailing Club and owner of Alchemist - which sunk during the 2016 Round the Island Race - and Jeff Worboys, winner of the Seamanship Award sponsored by Haven Knox-Johnston.
Mark Jardine: Mark, you weren't sailing on Alchemist on the day, what were you doing?
Mark Wynter: Well I was Commodore of the Island Sailing Club. I had to do various duties in the club, meeting sponsors and if there was some major disaster, I had to be on hand to deal with that, and generally being around. This is a big event and a lot of people will show up during the race, more than you would imagine, and I had to be with them. Unfortunately, there was absolutely no question of competing in the race when I became Commodore - that is one of the things that I'd had to give up.
Mark Jardine: Jeff, at what point did you noticed something was wrong aboard Alchemist?
Jeff Worboys: We heard a mayday as we came between the Goose Rock and the wreck of the SS Varvassi. When they said they were in Scratchell's Bay and were sinking we realised we were probably the closest boat; they were about 200 or 300 metres ahead of us. When we got a bit closer we recognised the boat was Alchemist - we've battled closely with them in the Round Island Race for the last 30 years. We could see that she was obviously in trouble and so we went alongside and offered a tow, but that would probably have made matters worse. Mark's crew rightly said no, so we stood by until help arrived, which was probably around 10 minutes when a police boat arrived and started to take the crew off. At that point, we hoisted our sails again and got back into the race.
Mark Jardine: It's a tricky manoeuvre, dropping your sails and coming alongside with so many boats about. How did you not become a hazard yourself?
Jeff Worboys: Well fortunately this year, because the conditions were fairly rough, most of the fleet had gone the other side of the Varvassi wreck. There were quite a few boats coming through but not the usual numbers. We were able to down sails and come alongside without too many other boats getting in the way.
Mark Jardine: Mark, when did you actually hear the news, being in race control, and how did it come across?
Mark Wynter: I can't forget it. It was like when you heard the news about President Kennedy. I was actually resting in the club's accommodation as we'd been up very early to be with Prince Michael of Kent as he started the race. I had watched Alchemist go out and hoped they'd have a good race, wishing I was there and all that. I heard my mobile phone ring and it was Andrew the skipper, who said "I am phoning from the police launch. We are all safe but I am sorry to say that Alchemist has sunk."
This is just news you really don't want to hear, I went straight round to the office and they'd also had the news. Everyone was so nice and it was humbling because you think people really care, it wasn't like I'd lost a mobile phone or something, it meant a lot more than that. Some of the volunteers drove to Yarmouth to pick the crew up, which was very decent as they were extremely shaken, as was I. We've got over it now but at the time, it was a seriously traumatic event.
Mark Jardine: You'd owned Alchemist since 1978 when she was built?
Mark Wynter: Yes.
Mark Jardine: She must be almost be a member of the family, especially being a wooden boat. How do you get over a loss, which of course is effectively just a boat, but a boat that you have had for such a long time?
Mark Wynter: Yes that's right, I knew every foible of her and supervised her build at Lallows. In a way I just thought, "how am I ever not going to own this boat?" I was just going to die and the boat will still be there. In a way, that's a sort of relief - that's the only plus. That negative side is awful, it's such a loss.
I somehow I felt it was part of her legacy as well. With Ed Dubois (the designer) dying and the boat being lost within months of each other it almost seemed too much. I can't think of the right words at the moment.
Jeff Worboys: I was at school with Ed - he was a very close friend. It was doubly sad to see one of his earliest designs go down like that only a few months after he had passed away.
Mark Wynter: Dubois Naval Architects have a photograph of Alchemist on their wall and it's still there apparently. They are carrying on with the practice which is wonderful.
Anyway, putting it behind us, I have to say, Haven Knox-Johnston are very good. They had the cheque out within a day or two of the disaster for the full amount and I put that towards buying a new boat, an X-332. My wife's favourite part is that there's actually a door on the loo, which is something we didn't have before!
The boat was more than just a collection of sticks - it is a community of people. If I just said, "I'm stopping sailing now, then the community would split up and that would be awful because there are a lot of people who are so kind and actually come sailing with me. They would all disperse and that is almost a worse thought than actually losing the boat itself.
Mark Jardine: Will you be competing in the 2017 race in your new yacht?
Mark Wynter: It could well be. I will still be Commodore next year, provided I am re-elected. It would be very nice if it could be, but certainly the one after that, definitely.
Mark Jardine: Jeff, with the MS Amlin Seamanship Award, an incident like this is of course where an award like this is so apt. What does it mean to actually to be presented with the award?
Jeff Worboys: It is nice that what we did was recognized. I hope what we did is what anyone in the same situation would have done. I don't feel we have done anything particularly special. But having said that, it is obviously nice to have that sort of action recognized in this way. I am just so pleased that no-one on Alchemist's crew was hurt in any way - that is obviously the most important thing. It's the first time I witnessed a boat going down in front of me and it is a horrible thing to see. It means a lot though to be recognized in this way.
Mark Wynter: I was delighted that you received this award. We were discussing in the back room of the Island Sailing Club where the crew gathered, still dripping wet, saying how much it meant to have Jeff's crew do what they did. I do hope that anybody else would have done the same thing.
Mark Jardine: Jeff and Mark, thank you very much for your time.
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