GUNBOAT Dismasting

[Kenomac]

With so few facts known I don't mean to make light of the situation, but.... if their mast came down and the crew was able to cut it free, wouldn't the Gunboat 55 then be a.... powercat and retain the same abilities as other powercats?


I've heard no mention of it taking on water, and even if both rudders broke, the thing should still be able to maneuver and make way under power.

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by Hud3

They've been taken off the boat...

What a beautiful boat! Hope that they can recover it.

It is a beautiful boat, but it's also a weird boat. Pretty much every line and sail control leads to the base of the mast, and there is a relatively small area there in which to work, ahead of the helm. Small enough that two people working it would get chaotic pretty quickly. In addition, I can easily imagine, given how close together all the controls are, that if something broke badly in that area you could very quickly find yourself in a world of sh!t trying to manage the sail plan.

It never occurred to me when I was on the boat, and I thought it was nothing if not innovative at the time. Now it sort of sends a chill up my spine.

Edit: On looking at the video the layout is different than the big gunboat I was on, and seems better in terms of access, but I still don't like all that stuff clustered together like that.

[chris07732]

More info on the boat: Forbes Life

[Jon Eisberg]

Originally Posted by bletso

Further, how does a modern yacht get dismasted in mere 13 ft seas and 40 mph winds? Those are not even hurricane conditions. I know, I wasn't there but 13 footers are not all that bad, not good, but not horrendous either.

This is how:

Posted Today, 08:38 AM
This morning's update: Sustained winds were 30-35 knots. Squalls had been in the 40 knot range for most of the day. A full whiteout squall hit that initially looked no different than the other squalls. Sails were up as there was no indication of squalls with winds above 40 knots. A wall of wind hit at up to 70 knots. There was no opportunity to get the sails down. The mast came down with the wall of wind. Am simply relieved these guys are all safe.

http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=163512&p=4828448

Yup, sounds like the North Atlantic, 200 miles off Hatteras in late January, alright...

[hpeer]

Dupe threads running. See Gunboat lost.

[chris07732]

I see that, don't know how to combine. Mods??

[scuba0_1]

Well guess there's a million dollar yacht our there if any one wants one. Engines good mast missing...

Sent from my SM-N910V using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by scuba0_1

Well guess there's a million dollar yacht our there if any one wants one. Engines good mast missing...

Sent from my SM-N910V using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

More like $2.5mm, although I'm sure a new mast ain't cheap. Probably $250k in the spars, rigging, and sails.

[rognvald]

Another unnecessary CG rescue? Unless there were extenuating circumstances yet unkown, I would agree with Kenomac on this one.

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by Jon Eisberg

This is how:

Posted Today, 08:38 AM
This morning's update: Sustained winds were 30-35 knots. Squalls had been in the 40 knot range for most of the day. A full whiteout squall hit that initially looked no different than the other squalls. Sails were up as there was no indication of squalls with winds above 40 knots. A wall of wind hit at up to 70 knots. There was no opportunity to get the sails down. The mast came down with the wall of wind. Am simply relieved these guys are all safe.

http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=163512&p=4828448

Yup, sounds like the North Atlantic, 200 miles off Hatteras in late January, alright...

And therein lies the weakness of the catamaran. It's inability to heel to the wind and relieve the strain on the rig....

[colemj]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

And therein lies the weakness of the catamaran. It's inability to heel to the wind and relieve the strain on the rig....

Umm, I don't think you understand this well. The rig is supposed to be designed to take normal high sailing forces.

Lots and lots and lots and lots of monos have had rigging failure.

How do you explain that?

Geez, if it had flipped, then you would have been blaming the rig not letting go.

Mark

[CptLawrence]

In the video posted on the other thread you can see the mast is just forward of the helm and a lot of windows. Assuming 1 or 2 windows were damaged or knocked out by the mast or boom or both, or the cabin top was cracked then water was likely mixing with electronic engine controls. Assuming rigging fouled a prop or rudder and washing machine conditions of the gulf stream battling a north wind swell and maybe no storm anchor aboard or rigged for quick deployment, assuming not everyone aboard was experienced with gulf stream rage on a vessel smaller than a cargo ship then calling for help is the next step.

Assuming a pro weather router told the skipper that there was a window and was wrong then might the insurance company sue the router's insurance?

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by CptLawrence

Assuming a pro weather router told the skipper that there was a window and was wrong then might the insurance company might sue the router's insurance?

So now everything bad that happens is the weatherman's fault?

[smj]

Originally Posted by CptLawrence

In the video posted on the other thread you can see the mast is just forward of the helm and a lot of windows. Assuming 1 or 2 windows were damaged or knocked out by the mast or boom or both, or the cabin top was cracked then water was likely mixing with electronic engine controls. Assuming rigging fouled a prop or rudder and washing machine conditions of the gulf stream battling a north wind swell and maybe no storm anchor aboard or rigged for quick deployment, assuming not everyone aboard was experienced with gulf stream rage on a vessel smaller than a cargo ship then calling for help is the next step.

Assuming a pro weather router told the skipper that there was a window and was wrong then might the insurance company sue the router's insurance?

That is a lot of assumptions!

[CptLawrence]

They were sailing in squalls, i prefer to motor in squalls rather than assume they will not worsen. Is it common for boats like that to endure those condition? If not i wonder what the motivation was to push through.