French Tri flips

[Elie]

I agree with you. There is nothing funny about a boat and their sailors being in trouble, in those latitudes. But one may question the real intention behind this record breaking 'races'. When you consider that all that is financed by big economic interests, for the sake of publicity and visibility , one may ask why these sailors are doing it, risking their lives and lives of others sent to their rescue. What this brings to the sport? .

[Alan Wheeler]

one may ask why these sailors are doing it

"Because it's there" and... "Because there are those that can" I guess.

[Jesse Holden]

I just did a little check to see who holds the record distance for 24hr. Groupama III with the same crew made 794 miles a few months back while setting a new record across the Atlantic. Some of the video on their website is very impressive. Jesse

[Thermal]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

You have to wonder what anyone would find funny in this. It's just good to see nobody got hurt or killed.

There's a German word for this : Schadenfreude - means taking pleasure in someone else's misfortune. I suppose it requires some sort of sadistic streak.

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

From what I've read, it sounds like there was a structural failure, and the leeward ama either broke in half or came off, resulting in the capsize. This kind of thing can happen when the boundaries of engineering are pushed. Like when racing mono's lose their keels and roll over, or America's cup boats break in half and sink.... I dunno, maybe some find that amusing?

The French version of the website is a little more detailed in their description of what happened: They were doing over 30 knots in calmer seas when the leeward ama broke just aft of the forward arm, which started a chain reaction breaking both the leeward arms, and then capsizing the boat, all within ten seconds.

There's also a table showing their positions over the course of the race, and it indicates they were here 51°18.08 S 142°49.76 E - Google Maps 48 hours earlier, and depending on where you draw the line between the Indian and Pacific oceans, might be considered "in the Indian Ocean". In any case, covering 500-600 NM per day is mighty fast!

[Alan Wheeler]

They went back out there today to try and find and salvage the boat. It's 16Mill. I assume that is NZ$16M. What ever, it's a lot of money. They intend to cut the mast free and drag the thing back to NZ, hopefully Lyttleton, and crate her up and get it back to France and get her ready to try again next year. I expect a little more glue maybe applied next time.

[Pelagic]

Alan... Have we ever had a thread :

"Ocean Racing is Bad Seamanship!"

[ireaney]

Check the link for great coverage of the recovery

Cammas Groupama

[Alan Wheeler]

No, because if we started one, we may start attracting the bad seamen.
Why is it that the French are so into these fast Multi-hulls?? That Hydroptere, (how tdo you spell it? and even better question, how do you pronounce it??) Is that thing for the speed record only? or are they intending on racing it as well. Seems like an enormouse amount of money just to break a speed record.

Here's another question. These boats a mega million dollar babies. I guess we are talking major big sponsership deals to fund them. So do these companies get value for dollar in advertising?? I ask this as most of the company name on these boats are names we don't hear much down hear. So we often don't get to know how big they are in the face of the rest of the world.

[MidLandOne]

Out on the boat here am a lttle stuck for news. The internet news from anywhere but NZ seems to be convinced that Dunedin is in the Indian Ocean and little seems to be explained what happened.

According to the safety information on the Maritime Radio broadcasts here the abandoned wreck was at around 45 S which means they were hundreds of miles north of the Southern Ocean track they would normally be on far south of NZ - instead they were actually in the Pacific up off Dunedin (southern most point of NZ, Stewart island is a little over 47S and the normal Southern Ocean circumnavigation route south of the 3 Capes is well below that).

So I assume a problem was recognised in the Southern Ocean and they were heading north to a NZ port or better conditions but ended up falling apart before they got there? But I have seen no such mention of this or anyone actually querying why so far north.

[Pelagic]

They were in the Pacific 80nm east of Dunedin and from the first strut breaking to capsize the skipper said it took about 10 seconds for that float to fill and flip.
They had tacked North to get into the lee of NZ before turning East again, were doing over 30 knots in better seas…. Then 10 seconds….

Alan, are you sure we can’t talk about ocean racing being bad seamanship?

[Factor]

Originally Posted by Elie

Many years ago, multi hulls racers flipping was almost a fact of life, to the dismay of Australians and NZ authorities that had to invest to rescue them from the Southern Ocean.

Which ones would that be - I only remember our navy chasing down autissier and buulimore - and they were in monos, but I could be wrong - just cant remember them rescuing any multis?

[Joli]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

They were in the Pacific 80nm east of Dunedin and from the first strut breaking to capsize the skipper said it took about 10 seconds for that float to fill and flip.
They had tacked North to get into the lee of NZ before turning East again, were doing over 30 knots in better seas…. Then 10 seconds….

Alan, are you sure we can’t talk about ocean racing being bad seamanship?

All the boats built to break speed records are single purpose machines, built to live or die on the edge. Fun to watch but not really practical, although the products developed for these boats do trickle down to the average joe.

Interesting side note regarding Groupama was the design and construction of the crossbeams. The builder did not like or endorse the rivets that were used to hold the assembly together but that is how the designer desinged that. I'll see if I can find that info and post a link.

I think we are going to see the big guys record attempts dry up for a bit. The economy is slowing and sponorships dollars are getting fewer. Not sure if ORMA still around, Hydrotiple (sp) is out of money and on the hard, and the spate of Open 60's not staying together is killing the sponsor money for them as well, and the Volvo 70's may not have funding.

[Tnflakbait]

Orange II still reigns supreme. To me these events prove cats are more durable than tris in Heavy seas. Tris may be faster in lighter winds.

The boss of ocean racing:

YouTube - Orange II Maxi catamaran

[Joli]

Found it. Maybe related, maybe not?

Multiplast

[matt.lynne]

another link with a wee bit more info innit....... Trophy Jules Verne: Franck Cammas answers questions about Groupama 3 capsize | BYM Sailing & Sports News