Access to Catamaran's Water-Tight Compartments when Capsized

[rodcat]

Hi interesting topic our catamaran a spirit380 was capsied in the southern ocean of Adelaide Australia 16 November last year. The boat floated well up side down the bridge deck was fully submerged but the hulls remained out of the water. There were no escape hatches built into the hull so the only way in and out of the boat was through a deck hatch which l entered a couple of times. Water was up to my waste when inside the upturned hulls. We were rescued 13 hours after the incident.

The boat remained a float for over three months and washed ashore about 1000 nm from the incident. The bridge deck was gone but the hulls remained intact. This was a balsa core design.

l wold say never leave a up turn boat stay with it until rescue.

if we had to we could have stayed inside the upturn hull as we had lots of supply. Just prepare well before anytrip

[Blue Stocking]

Didn't I read somewhere that the rescue crew found Philip Weld and crew drinking hot coffee on the upturned hull of Gulfstreamer. Shards of head mirrors glued to hull to reflect sunlight.
Planning for worst possible scenario is really appreciated when worst possible scenario become present reaity.

[adamskiinasia]

Excellent points. I have been in a large ship during a storm and imagined being waaaay down there in those waves and its a scary thought.

I'm just trying to figure out what part of current cruising cat design is functional and what is form. If you design a cat at its simplest you start with say a small hobie cat and you are thinking about hull design for speed and control etc. A cabin has no part in it so it seems that decks can often be made with far more flexibility.

For example, if the cabin were made lighter could it not be larger ? I see 50 foot cats with cabins only 20 feet long with 30 feet of wasted deck. I understand the deck needs to be accessable but larger, lighter cabins (35 feet) ? Would that affect the design and safety ?

I'm ignorant of cruising cats so please set me straight.

- cruising cat owner wannabe

[mikereed100]

Originally Posted by rodcat

Hi interesting topic our catamaran a spirit380 was capsied in the southern ocean of Adelaide Australia 16 November last year. The boat floated well up side down the bridge deck was fully submerged but the hulls remained out of the water. There were no escape hatches built into the hull so the only way in and out of the boat was through a deck hatch which l entered a couple of times. Water was up to my waste when inside the upturned hulls. We were rescued 13 hours after the incident.

The boat remained a float for over three months and washed ashore about 1000 nm from the incident. The bridge deck was gone but the hulls remained intact. This was a balsa core design.

l wold say never leave a up turn boat stay with it until rescue.

if we had to we could have stayed inside the upturn hull as we had lots of supply. Just prepare well before anytrip

Thanks for the post. Did you find that it was difficult to enter through the deck hatches and, given your experience, do you feel that escape hatches would have been a better option?

Mike

[Palarran]

Man, this inverted catamaran subject has been beaten to death over the years. There's so much speculation about it for how very, very, very seldom it actually happens. Spending ton's of time and energy worrying about an inverted cat rather then your standing rigging or rudder posts, or thru hulls, or fire, or man overboard, or, or, just doesn't make sense to me (anymore).