Idiot or Hero?

[Hud3]

Very interesting comments from all.

My nature is to be conservative when approaching the open Ocean--a well-found boat of proven design, all the safety gear, and redundent equipment where warranted. I can, however, appreciate the "idealistic dreamer" who takes off around the world without all the "bells and whistles--as long as he has at least a marginal grip on reality.
My take on this, however, is that Vann is suffering from a terrminal case of Blind Arrogance. Whatever motivates him to do this, does not include any respect for, nor consideration of the consequences that he will likely inflict on other (family, rescuers, etc.) Nor do I think he's being the least bit realistic in his plan.

His boat design is focused solely on achieving speed. Having sailed beach cats for three decades, I can say that helming a multihull with little reserve bouyancy in high winds and steep seas is an exhilarating experience, but one that takes intense focus and concentration. A single lapse can result in a hull digging in and a pitchpole (I was on the trapeze when we had ours). No recovering from that in Vann's boat, even if the structure stays intact! EPIRB time! Sailing solo for weeks in the Southern Ocean, it would be just a matter of time until the enevitable happens.

I think we'll be reading some more about Mr Vann, but it won't be happy news.

[JohnnyC]

No Question

IDIOT

[David M]

One out of six people who attempt to climb Mount Everest die. Are they crazy for doing so when they know the odds? The same applies to this guy. He is probably not crazy, it's just that some people do not value their life as much as others. Let him go. He just should not expect others to risk their lives in order to rescue him from his risky venture.

[Joli]

If he goes sailing, chances are it won't be pretty.

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by David M

One out of six people who attempt to climb Mount Everest die.

David,

Where did you get this statistic from? From what I've heard nowadays if you've got enough money the Sherpas will carry you up. I know that climbers still occasionally still lose their lives but it's a lot easier than it used to be.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by David M

He is probably not crazy, it's just that some people do not value their life as much as others. Let him go. He just should not expect others to risk their lives in order to rescue him from his risky venture.

Maybe he should be required to sign a waver exempting him from rescue if the boat fails. That way no one else will get hurt/die attempting a rescue.

[44'cruisingcat]

"He's been a Wallace Stegner Fellow, taught at Stanford and Cornell, and is now a professor at
FSU. He holds a U.S. Coast Guard 200-ton Master’s License and has sailed more than forty
thousand miles offshore."

An idiot?

[GordMay]

Perhaps Prof. Vann is an educated idiot.
I've met some.

[44'cruisingcat]

I don't think he'll succeed. Not in building the boat in two months for $25,000. If he gives up on those ideas and sets a reasonable budget and timeframe, then he might make it. It sounds like he is following the advice of the new designer and building bigger volume and more bouyant hull and ama's.

I'm building a boat in my backyard, and frankly I would trust it's construction far more than virtually ANY production boat. I KNOW how it has been put together - every single bit of it - and it was built by someone who knew that one day his life might depend on it - not by someone working at a job he hates for crap wages, still recovering from last nights party, and interested only in getting away from work ASAP.

[Steve Pope]

Brian and Claire, Don't knock alluminium in terms of strength and ductility it is right up there with steel and you use the correct grade, very easy and clean to work you only need wood working tools most of the time, and a good welding machine which of course you would need anyway if you are building in steel. Have a look at some of the more modern work boats, almost all are alluminium. Hell even the poms made warships out of it, they just didn't allow for the argies setting them on fire with their exocet missiles. Peter Blakes Seamaster since renamed and currently ice bound in the arctic is made of it. Tough, you bet.

[Sailormann]

The boat doesn't look seaworthy, but I don't think that is his biggest issue. It's when I read about his plan to take salt-water showers for four months and call his wife every day on the phone that I start to question his judgement and whether or not he has done the research he needs to do.

Although I only skimmed over the article, I didn't seem to find any references to successful circumnavigators, only constant parallels drawn between himself and the gentleman whose steel boat sank at the start of his attempt. Of course this person believes he has identified the problem that his forerunner didn't handle properly and has worked out a solution...

I can undertand that. Just yesterday I was reading about Fastnet again and telling myself I'd never have made some of the mistakes that others did, why I do believe I actually would have won the race (from the comfort of my armchair it is conceivable).

I guess in the end I am just sitting here and wondering why he is doing this.... Deathwish ??? Ego ??? Stupidity ??? Surely nobody is as naiive as he pretends to be.

[David M]

Originally Posted by Vasco

David,

Where did you get this statistic from? From what I've heard nowadays if you've got enough money the Sherpas will carry you up. I know that climbers still occasionally still lose their lives but it's a lot easier than it used to be.

I just got done watching a show about an Everest expedition done this year...this is what the show said. I assume they are telling the truth. It does not look easy at all to me. One guy from another expedition dies during the filming.

According to this site, out of every 12 that summit, one person dies.

http://www.everestnews.com/history/e...mitsbyyear.htm

[ssullivan]

Wow... reading the article was painful.

There were so many mistakes in there and so many mis-conceptions that it almost seemed like I was reading fiction.

It's great that the guy is being innovative. I do this kind of thing all the time, so I can relate.

On the downside, he has a bad track record at sea.

One thing I am not understanding. What vessel did he operate that gives him the tonnage for a 200 Ton Master?

[David M]

Originally Posted by ssullivan

Wow... reading the article was painful.

There were so many mistakes in there and so many mis-conceptions that it almost seemed like I was reading fiction.

It's great that the guy is being innovative. I do this kind of thing all the time, so I can relate.

On the downside, he has a bad track record at sea.

One thing I am not understanding. What vessel did he operate that gives him the tonnage for a 200 Ton Master?

I was just thinking that if he took 4 telephone poles, used two as hulls and two as crossbeams that are chained together, that he would have a more seaworthy vessel than what he is building. It would be cheaper, could not sink and it would be a much more rigid structure. The sails would be easy, some heavy duty garbage bags glued together using bamboo poles as spars would work fine. When your sails blow out you just replace them with more garbage bags. He could probably keep the budget under $5k doing this.

[44'cruisingcat]

Hmm, seems some of us can look at one photo, which shows a small part of something and say "That thing is unseaworthy", while the guy building it , who has 40,000 sea miles, and is highly qualified, is not able to see that when standing right next to it.

The fact that it will be build to go fast doesn't disqualify it from being seaworthy - Ellen Macarthurs boat was built to go fast too, and go fast it did, around the World in record time.

I just can't see him being ready to go in time for this (Antarctic) summer.