Catamaran Capsize.

[Two Skippies]

Earlier today Sydney (Aust) time, a Catamaran reportedly 11.7m, capsized off Newcastle with three persons reported dead and two rescued.
A terrible tragedy.
My wind app says seas 2.5m and winds around 25kts today.

Thoughts and condolences to families and friends, and to those involved in the rescue.

Two Skippies.
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/austr...cid=spartandhp

[JPA Cate]

So sorry to hear this. Condolences to all involved.

Ann

[John_char]

Jeez. This just off my coast. Just when I’m fully researching retiring on a sailing cat in the not too distant future.

My buddy who is an avid monohull guy will mention this as soon as he hears it saying “cats are most comfortable upside down”

My condolences to the families involved. Truely devastating.

[Factor]

Yes and two people were saved because they were able to hang onto the Capsized boat when it didn't sink.

[svseachange]

Is that a Schionning Spirited 380? Kind of looks like it from the porthole and pontoons.

Extremely sad story.

[ozsailer]

Hello all, regardless of class of boat its a very sad day when three people die in this manner. Local news reports to date indicate that the vessel was travelling from Port Stephens to the Central Coast ( I am purely speculating here but I think they may mean Broken Bay (Pittwater). It as also reported that everyone was wearing a lifejacket with only two of the five on board surviving.
The local weather forecast was a strong wind warning with 20 to 30 knots of wind from west but that was upgraded to a gale warning later in the morning with 2 to 3 metre sea on a 1 metres swell. This area is very local to us and its very distressing to everyone.


Greg H
lagoon 440

[Wotname]

From the scant reports I've heard, the EPIRB was instrumental in raising the alarm.

[Wotname]

Two threads on this subject see Catamaran capsize near Sydney - Cruisers & Sailing Forums

[John_char]

Originally Posted by ozsailer

Hello all, regardless of class of boat its a very sad day when three people die in this manner. Local news reports to date indicate that the vessel was travelling from Port Stephens to the Central Coast ( I am purely speculating here but I think they may mean Broken Bay (Pittwater). It as also reported that everyone was wearing a lifejacket with only two of the five on board surviving.

The local weather forecast was a strong wind warning with 20 to 30 knots of wind from west but that was upgraded to a gale warning later in the morning with 2 to 3 metre sea on a 1 metres swell. This area is very local to us and its very distressing to everyone.





Greg H

lagoon 440

I agree. I was out soldiers point on Saturday and saw a very similar cat going out.

It is very concerning and worrying

[B23iL23]

Agreed. Very sad day when 3 fellow sailors die doing what they love. Don't know what type of cat but I don't see any escape hatches, unless they are in the stern. Wonder if that contributed to the loss of life.



sad day.

Originally Posted by ozsailer

Hello all, regardless of class of boat its a very

sad day when three people die in this manner. Local news reports to date indicate that the vessel was travelling from Port Stephens to the Central Coast ( I am purely speculating here but I think they may mean Broken Bay (Pittwater). It as also reported that everyone was wearing a lifejacket with only two of the five on board surviving.
The local weather forecast was a strong wind warning with 20 to 30 knots of wind from west but that was upgraded to a gale warning later in the morning with 2 to 3 metre sea on a 1 metres swell. This area is very local to us and its very distressing to everyone.


Greg H
lagoon 440

[Sojourner]

I have no idea about cats, but you'd think by now there could be some kind of electronic jammer that would release a sheet when it sensed a lean above a certain angle.... I mean, motorcycles finally have the tech to have abs and traction control incorporating lean, why not this? Lock the main and job into the smart jammer, the cat begins to lean past X degrees, it looses the sheets and maybe prevents a capsize?

[jmh2002]

@Sojourner These systems already exist. In the modern context they were developed in the French offshore multihull and IMOCA scene.

There are threads on the forum here too about these devices.

[Sojourner]

Originally Posted by jmh2002

@Sojourner These systems already exist. In the modern context they were developed in the French offshore multihull and IMOCA scene.

There are threads on the forum here too about these devices.

Nice! I'm mono so don't poke around much in things that don't concern me, but if I had a cat, I'd fit some fo sho

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by Sojourner

I have no idea about cats, but you'd think by now there could be some kind of electronic jammer that would release a sheet when it sensed a lean above a certain angle.... I mean, motorcycles finally have the tech to have abs and traction control incorporating lean, why not this? Lock the main and job into the smart jammer, the cat begins to lean past X degrees, it looses the sheets and maybe prevents a capsize?

There is a relatively expensive system called upside up http://myboatsgear.com/2017/01/12/up...p-anticapsize/. Heel is not a good indication of load (think of inclination on the side of a swell - may be heeling 20 degrees but both hulls firmly planted), so a load-based system is more useful.

But if cruisers reef for the gusts, then gusts aren’t a worry. It does mean paying attention to the wind trends, especially local effects, and accepting being underpowered during the average wind and lulls. Note that this isn’t commentary about this thread’s incident.

Regardless, extremely sorry for the families involved in the accident and I wish to express my condolences. A horrible tragedy.

[weavis]

I was notified on my phone earlier regarding this incident. First, heartfelt condolences to the families.......so very sad and unexpected.

We will hear in due course what happened, and as always take the information, process it and learn from it.

Our passion is usually a very safe one and yet occasionally.......

So sorry.