Colin MacRae has always had a high tolerance for difficulty. When he acquired a hurricane-ravaged catamaran that most people had written off entirely, he didn't hesitate. Over the months that followed, hull sections were reconstructed, systems overhauled, interiors stripped and remade, and Parlay Revival was gradually coaxed back into a seaworthy vessel.
That rebuild became the foundation for a global voyage and an international YouTube following of considerable size. MacRae, a Kiwi who built much of his audience from overseas before developing a strong following back home in New Zealand, became known as much for the thoroughness of his documentation as for the ambition of the project itself. Viewers of Below Deck will also recognise him from several seasons on that series, where his background as an engineer and later chief engineer on superyachts placed him at the centre of the action.
The latest chapter in the Parlay Revival story, however, was not part of any plan.
In a recent Facebook post, MacRae wrote:
“Life took a serious turn for the worse this weekend when I thought I could play rugby at 40.”
The outcome was a complete rupture of his Achilles tendon.
“It felt like someone had shot me in the heel with a shotgun.”
Surgery to reattach the tendon followed. By his own account, it was a full rupture.
The timing added its own complications. Parlay was already hauled out in Thailand at the time of the injury, with MacRae in the middle of addressing significant osmosis blistering along the hull. Getting aboard requires climbing a ladder, an unremarkable detail under normal circumstances and a genuine obstacle now. With his leg immobilised, reaching his own deck has become a considered exercise rather than a routine one.
He acknowledges that, for the moment, he can "lift myself up the ladder [to] home and limp inside."
It is far from a minor setback. Returning to normal walking can take anywhere from four to six months, with full recovery extending to as long as nine months.
MacRae's surgeon has advised that he will essentially need to learn to walk again over the months ahead. As for surfing, he concedes it may be "T-minus unknown numbers of months" away.
For someone whose life has revolved around climbing rigs, working beneath hulls, and moving through boatyards with ease, the enforced stillness represents a significant shift. He frames it, nonetheless, as another bump in the road.
In the hospital for their anniversary
Support has not been lacking. While recovering in hospital in Bangkok, MacRae and his partner Brittany marked their three-year anniversary. It was not the anniversary either of them would have imagined. He wrote that Brittany "didn't skip a beat," carrying him through both surgery and the recovery that followed, consistent with how she has shown up throughout their relationship.
The wider Parlay Revival project was already well into its next phase before the injury intervened. MacRae had returned to New Zealand early last year as part of his ongoing circuit before heading north once more. The stop in Thailand was intended to be a working one, focused on resolving the osmosis issues and completing further maintenance. It has since become a base for rehabilitation rather than for boatwork.
Anyone who has taken on a serious vessel project understands that the path rarely runs straight. Weather, parts availability, funding pressures, physical exhaustion, and plain bad luck all have a habit of reshaping the timeline. A ruptured Achilles in a Bangkok boatyard is simply the latest entry on a long list of things that didn't go to plan.
For followers who have been with Parlay Revival from the start, disruption has always been woven into the narrative. Having spoken with MacRae on a number of occasions and followed the project closely, there is little doubt he will be back on the tools, and back in the surf, as quickly as his leg will allow.
