Why do the Vendee boats keep hitting stuff?

[DeepFrz]

Our oceans have been used as garbage dumps for centuries. Of course there is a huge amount of crap out there. Look at any beach in British Columbia the world.

Tons and tons of lost/abandoned fish nets balled up and floating is just one awful example.

[yachtgemini]

So far my worst surprises have been 3 refrigerators. They float just below the surface, have sharp corners and are heavy when full of water. They also float for many years before they sink completely. At 6 knots I think it they would make a terrible mess of a cruising boat, at 20 knots it would be awful.

One of my fridge encounters was off Tasmania... Another off Italy and one off the Cape Verdes. Clearly, they have interesting migration patterns.

Ross

[knockabout]

h2o is hard at 25-30 kts

[barnakiel]

I think the answer is again: 'because it is there ...'

;-)

b.

[Olddave]

Originally Posted by chris95040

First the Hugo Boss guy had his starboard foil "ripped off by a submerged object", now another guy just knocked his keel off?

I guess there's a lot more crap floating around out there than I imagine. Or these guys are just ridiculously unlucky.

Who pays if your keel just falls off?

[CharlesV]

Nobody is concerned about the thousands of large and small debris from Fukushima?

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by CharlesV

Nobody is concerned about the thousands of large and small debris from Fukushima?

Naah.. it glows in the dark

[CharlesV]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Naah.. it glows in the dark

LOL thats too funny, you got me on that one!

Im in Malaysia and sometimes there are reports about debris showing up here, a long way from home. Looking at how the currents move i thought debris would be contained in the north pacific but i guess not. That means the field is huge now. Has it all sunk? Couldnt be.

[leftbrainstuff]

We probably hit more objects than we realise. At 5 knots we likely don't even know.

Lots of crap in SF bay and in the PNW.

At 20 knots you're going to break things.

Our displacement hulls tend to direct objects to one side or the other.

The vendee boats are planing. Any object will not be deflected.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Dougtiff]

I remember the last time i sailed down to Mexico, about half way between San Diego and Cabo, i saw two whales tails up [mating ?] about 25 yard'a ahead and wondered if they would sense me, so i didn't change coarse until i was closer, they didn't move, so i changed coarse at that point, if it had been dark, i would have not seen them, kind-of scary.

[Don C L]

A few months ago I had a whale appear out of nowhere, pretty fast, probably a Minke, that blew and crossed right under my bow. I think I expressed some kind of expletive that I had to walk back with the kids. I am assuming he knew I was there but it was such a close call I am not sure. I was only doing 5 knots or so. Never did see him come up again after that. There is no way to know for sure what whales can or cannot detect, except I do recall research on Humpbacks shown in the old Scientific American TV show. They dissected an ear and determined that the whales were becoming entangled in fishing nets because they couldn't hear them. After redesigning the nets a bit, no more entanglements.

[Scatterling]

Originally Posted by CharlesV

... Im in Malaysia and sometimes there are reports about debris showing up here, a long way from home. Looking at how the currents move i thought debris would be contained in the north pacific but i guess not. That means the field is huge now. Has it all sunk? Couldnt be.

40 tonnes of it have been recovered so far off British Columbia's beaches.

Huge tsunami debris cleanup operation begins along B.C.’s West Coast | Vancouver Sun

[MIRELOS]

you cross an ocean, you'll see lots of stuff afloat or partially so, you see it you avoid it, at night you slow down anyway and most cruising boats are not doing 20+ knots

[Capt Phil]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

Our oceans have been used as garbage dumps for centuries. Of course there is a huge amount of crap out there. Look at any beach in British Columbia the world.

Tons and tons of lost/abandoned fish nets balled up and floating is just one awful example.

DeepFrz is right... after towing logs and barges commercially in the PNW for many years, I lost count of the number of times I hit logs, snags and widow makers(logs that have been in the ocean so long, one end is waterlogged and the buoyant end sits vertically, usually just at the surface.)
I did deliveries from Alaska as far south as Panama for about 12-15 years and you wouldn't believe the crap I've seen off the West Coast! And this was before the Japanese Tsunami!
These guys running in the Vendee are going so fast and need to sleep or have a million other tasks to perform just to be competitive, I'm certain they have little time to keep a solid watch. They trust to luck not to hit anything that could do significant damage. Phil

[robbievardon]

I am pretty sure it is the Pacific Ocean that has an estimated 10,000 tons of rubbish swirling around in one big floating island. In my pro time at sea I have seen many containers just floating around in the sea lanes plus other junk capable of wrecking race boats some from foundering cargo boats some from nature.