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Silversonic passengers and crew recently enjoyed an amazing experience, when an Ornate Eagle Ray (Aetomylaeus vespertilio) was spotted swimming around "Barracuda Bommie", one of Quicksilver's remote dive sites on the Agincourt reefs. This gentle giant (one of the few species of eagle ray without a stinging barb) measured nearly 2.5m across the wings, and total length over 5m. The Ornate Eagle Ray is well named, as the patterns across the dorsal surface are exquisite, consisting of a mosaic of stripes and spots. Shane Down, Crew of Silversonic said, "The last time we saw an Ornate Eagle Ray was 3 years ago on Silversonic. It was an unbelievable sight and this new encounter may be the first one in Northern Australia that has been captured on video. It is a very rare and unique encounter -- like winning lotto underwater." Doug Baird, Quicksilver Cruises Environment and Compliance Manager said, "The species is not well known, and this is only the second one we have seen at one of our reef sites and there are only a few records from the northern parts of Australia (the last time an ornate eagle ray was spotted was in April 2008). They only produce 4-6 live young, making them highly vulnerable. Eagle rays live in the open ocean rather than at the bottom of the sea. They eat snails, mussels and crustaceans, crushing their shells with their extremely hard teeth. They are excellent swimmers and are able to jump several metres above the surface. They are classified as Endangered".

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When you get the speed wobbles you need to sheet the kite in tight to avoid a crazy uncontrolled gybe like the one we had on this sunny autumn day on Strangford lough. The mast man took a pounding as the rock and roll of the boat slipped him of the deck as our Mumm 36 turned into and uncontrolled gybe. The wipe out managed to break the kite poke in two as it was pinned back against the side stay as the windward side of the boat quickly became the leeward side as we swung through the gybe. Luckily it was only the pride of the crew was damaged as no one was seriously hurt. With the pole broken it was a long afternoon on the race course without the big kite, the team on GTR raced on flying the A-Sail of the bow to ensure they did not end up with a DNF in the second race of the day. If you made it this far and like what you saw why not join the bottom up boats crew to come on board to ensure you don't miss any of the action.

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After having spent winter in the shed for some TLC, Saga47swan is now back in the water and will set sail from Whitehaven to Scotland, Faroe Islands, Norway, Shetland and Orkney in 2024! Exciting times ahead!

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