Broadsword had only been in service for a month. Barely a month, being commissioned on May 7th. Being so new to the fleet meant she was still figuring things out. Her duties were simple enough though she was still learning the best ways of being efficient at them. And efficiency was badly needed at the moment.

"This is getting ridiculous!" She grumbled as her steel bow forced its way through a large swell. The wind was howling in her ears, sharp and cold. Overijssel had been out of radio contact for the last half hour but the last the frigate heard from the Dutch ship, she was on her way to rescue her fifth batch of sailors. Just 2 days ago the weather was calm, pristine and clear. Now, it was a Force 8 gale! Vessels were turtling and capsizing left and right. Those that managed to ride out the storm thus far were taking a severe beating. For the past 2 hours, Broadsword's radio had been filled with the shrieking "maydays" of those poor little vessels, unequipped to handle the violent seas. Built for speed and little else. The Coast Guard's meager force of Nimrods and Westlands were being run into the ground trying to keep up with the call volume. Thus the young frigate was called away from her patrol area to the north and asked to join in as the Search Coordinator. Broadsword had the training to deal with this. All Royal Navy ships did before they were commissioned into Her Majesties Fleet but she still felt it wouldn't be enough. She wasn't ready for this! She wasn't ready for this at all!

A sharp cry was brought forth on the wind and Broadsword's bow snapped around towards it. She knew a cry for help when she heard one and sounded her horn in reply though she doubted the sound would ever reach the foundering vessel. Still, she made her way over. It was slow going in these seas but thankfully by the time she arrived the vessel was still afloat though looking a bit dazed and bruised.
"Bloody rogue wave broadsided me. Thought I was done for." She panted. "What's your name?" Broadsword asked. "Accanito." She replied. "And it seems my rudder has broken." "So it seems it has." Broadsword agreed. The small stick at her stern had snapped like a twig in these seas. "Here." The frigate tossed her a line. "I'll get you back to shore." "Thank you, fille." "You French?" "Oui. I hail from Cherebourg." "I never would've guessed. Your accent is almost nonexistant." Accanito chuckled. "A fine compliment from an English lass." She said. "You come here often?" "Now don't flirt with me little girl." Broadsword chided her. "Oui! Can I not have a little bit of fun?"

The two continued on with Accanito weathering the swells reasonably well under the circumstances. But it was inevitable that others were not so lucky. Broadsword came upon her second racer. Golden Apple, an Irish yacht with reasonable experience compared to some of the others. She'd lost her mast in the storm, the single pole unable to take the strain of such high winds. It had toppled down, the boom resting in the fore-deck with the spars draping across the sea. Broadsword did not need to hear Accanito's sad moan to know the truth for herself. Poor little Apple was doomed, her injuries fatal. She looked up at the frigate with such a pleading helpless look it made Broadsword's heart twinge. She took the crew off before holding the yacht fast to her. "I'm so sorry." She whispered to her. "It's alright." rasped Apple. Broadsword held one of her crew's pistols, pressing its muzzle to the yacht's head and pulled the trigger. To her the shot rang out louder than anything the storm could produce. Though seemingly harsh, it was a kinder fate than the one that would've awaited her. Slowly, she let the Irish yacht go, watching her body float away from her before being swallowed by the waves.

Broadsword continued on to her station. She came across two more yachts along the way. One was already dead with a broken neck. The other, with a snapped keel, was Broadsword's job to finish off. The frigate felt sick to her stomach by the time she finally reached the grounds. "There you are." Anglesey had been on station from the outset, coordinating the rescue efforts. The Island-class was out of her league and needed a replacement. "Golden Apple of Ireland is dead. As are Maligawa III and Taruntula. Taruntula was lost by the time I got to her. The other two..." Broadsword couldn't continue. Anglesey's gaze was full of sympathy. "Allamander and Ariadne are both missing. We assume they were lost as well. Silver Apple is being towed to Courtmacsherry by Deirdre." She said. "Damn." Broadsword muttered. "I see you saved one though." She nodded to Accanito who for her part had been silent pretty much the whole voyage. Anglesey untied her from the frigate and scooped her up on her deck. "I'll take her in. This mess is yours to deal with now." "Thanks a bunch." Broadsword grumbled. "How the bloody fucking hell could this happen?!" She looked at Accanito. "I don't know what those idiots in the officials box were thinking when they sent this race off but if they don't get their goddamn heads screwed on straight about this then I will screw them on for them!" "We race because we love to race. Nothing more." Accanito said. "You deserve to be protected while you do it, no different than us." Broadsword muttered. "You saved my life, mon ami. I know you don't feel like a hero but in my eyes you are." "But the others... I shouldn't have..." "If you hadn't, they would've suffered more. Death is something we have come to expect. We know the risks, just the same as you. But we do what we do because it what we are born to do. In that, we are the same." She said. Broadsword nodded and Anglesey turned to go. "And Broadsword!" Accanito called. "Thank you." Broadsword dipped her head, watching as the two vanished from sight.

Once they were gone, Broadsword turned her attention to her newly assigned task. "Now I need to find a way to clean up this mess and make sure it never happens again!" She muttered and began working the radio...

"As of 15 August 1979, the list of yachts that injured or sunk in the 1979 Fastnet race is as follows:

SV Accanito of France, broken rudder. Towed.

SV Allamader. Abandoned.

SV Alpha II

SV Amanda Kulu

SV Andiano Robin

SV Angustura

SV Animal

SV Ariadne. Abandoned. *

SV Arkadina

SV Asteries

SV "Autonomy". Towed to Dunmore East.

SV Ballydonna

SV Battle Cry

SV Billy Bones. Abandoned.

SV Blue Dolphin

SV Bonaventure of Britain. Abandoned.

SV Cabadah Ocean Wave Option

SV Callirhaex 3. Abandoned.

SV Camargue of Britain. Abandoned.

SV Casse Tete

SV Charioteer of Britain. Sunk.

SV Combat II. Retired to Cork.

SV Corker

SV Crazy Horse

SV Détente

SV Double O Two

SV Farthing

SV Enia

SV Fiestina Tertia. Abandoned. *

SV Finndabar. Abandoned.

SV Gan. Abandoned.

SV Gekko

SV Golden Apple of Ireland, disabled. Abandoned. Crew rescued by RAF Lynx helicopter.

SV Golden Leigh

SV Good Intentions

SV Grimalkin. Abandoned and subsequently recovered. Read John Rousmaniere's 'Fastnet, Force 10' & Nick Ward's 'Left for Dead'.

SV Gringo. Reported as 'believed sunk'.

SV Hestral. Abandoned. Crew of 6 rescued by Royal Navy helicopter.

SV Hoodlum

SV Impetuous

SV Innovation

SV Jan Pott of Germany, Flensburg. Broken mast.

SV Juggernaut

SV Kestel. Abandoned.

SV Korsar

SV La Barbarelle

SV Little Ella

SV Magic of Britain. Sunk.

SV Maligawa III. Abandoned.

SV Marionette VII

SV Mexxanini

SV Morning Cloud of Britain, broken rudder.

SV Morning Glory

SV Mulligatawny

SV Mutine

SV Pachena

SV Pegasus

SV Ocean Wave

SV Option2 of France, Granville

SV Pepsi of England

SV Pepsi of Holland

SV Pinball Wizard

SV Polar Bear of Britain. Sunk. Crew rescued.

SV Regardless of Cork, broken rudder. Assisted by LE Deirdre Towed by RNLB Ethal Mary

SV Samurai II

SV Scaldis

SV Scaramouche. Retired and made own way back to Plymouth."Although we hadn't the satisfaction of being one of the 88 which rounded "the rock" we were content in knowing that we had brought the boat and ourselves back in one piece"-Steve Cross.

SV Schuttevaer of Holland

SV Silver Apple of Howth: lost steering, assisted by LE Deirdre, made a jury steering rig, retired to Courtmacsherry under own power.

SV Sinndkabar

SV Skat

SV Sophia

SV Sophie B

SV Tam O'Shanter

SV Tarantula of France

SV Thunderer RAOC

SV Trophy. Abandoned.

SV Tiderace IV. Abandoned.

SV Wild Goose of Singapore

SV Yachtman of Spain

SV Zap

"It is of the utmost importance that a tragedy such as this one never happens again. With that in mind, our flagship HMS Victory together with the American flagship USS Missouri, the JMSDF flagship JSDS Kongo II, and with the full cooperation of the RCN and the RAN a new set of rules is being proposed with the potential for a boycott on the 1981 series if they are not implimented by that time. This year we all witnessed the awful reality these racers faced. I myself was put in the difficult position of showing mercy to two of them. Some might look at this and say it is better to end racing altogether. But you see these little vessels, braving the toughest seas in the world for a trophy, and wonder why they do this? Why do we risk our lives for a country that will never thanks us! Most of us will see the scrapyard in the next 30 years. So why serve if that fate is certain? Just as we choose to serve our country so they choose serve the cause of their hearts. Racing is their life and to take that away from them would be taking away from ourselves. It is my hope that in the future, these brave little ships who sacrifice as much for their cause as we do for ours, will be given better opportunity, better preparedness and a better chance to live and to continue doing what they love under safer conditions." ~ HMS Broadsword's speech to the Royal Navy Council consisting of HMS Victory, HMS Warrior, and Cutty Sark, 18 January 1980.