Alpha 42 "Be Good Too" rescue 300 miles off Cape Henry Merged

[Dave852]

Perhaps the engine hatches were not secured properly and she scooped a large dose when going backwards. Now why they would let the boat go backwards is a question. In bad weather with plenty on sea room you would think they would be running with the waves on the stern. If the rudders were jammed up into the hull with the rudders enough off center, then they would have a hard time making way in a straight direction even with a drogue. When I jammed both rudders up into the hull (running over a tree) I was able to make my way 200 miles back to panama by constantly adjusting a drogue (using winches). But the rudders were only about 10 degrees off center. Boat would go in a circle no matter what combination of sail and motor I tried without the drogue. It will be interesting to find out what happened exactly, they were aboard long enough after the event to determine that and had some daylight to look under to see what position the rudders were in, assuming they were still there.

[sparau]

Originally Posted by ontherocks83

If they had to continuously bail water for 50 hours that baby is long gone.

From the Aeroyacht website

Multihull Advantages
Unsinkable – foam construction and more watertight bulkheads

Catamarans posses the ultimate safety factor at sea. The fact that well-designed and constructed cruising catamarans are unsinkable makes them – at least in my mind – the safest platforms to cross oceans upon.

There appears to be bulkheads between the engine bay and the rest of the hull so I assume they were bailing to try and keep the engines dry.

I suppose the safer argument still holds in that many monos will sink with serious rudder impact but i would have thought that there would (or should) have been some way to sail. Earlier someone mentioned both hulls have emergency tillers.

As stated earlier, not the best PR for a company touting the safety of its product.

[boatman61]

These boats with saildrives need the wheel locking off.. and the knee braced under a spoke when your reversing into a berth..
I can just imagine the wheel wrenching out of the helmsmans grip as she slammed backwards.. wonder if they had the engines running at the time.. wonder if its the same set up as the Lagoon.. if so no way could the rudders have been chewed by the props... But.. I'm 'Wooshing..'

[Lagoonboy]

Cotemar,
This Alpha 42 was actually closer in cost to 700K by the time she left for the BVI from NY. Either way there is a lot of money invested in that boat and I'm sure there are efforts being launched to recover the boat ASAP, if not only to find out how and why the damages occurred so they can be examined and accounted for in the subsequent boats that are being built at the moment. I can assure you that a salvage effort that far offshore and in those conditions would not be an easy one by any means. It's unfortunate that they set off in such conditions this time of year. I hope everyone is safe and accounted for. With a sail magazine writer aboard I am sure that there will be plenty of eye witness accounts released soon.

Originally Posted by Cotemar

This is a new $400,000 cat. I think I should hire a private ship and run down there for a salvage operation.

[Lagoonboy]

Cotemar,
This Alpha 42 was actually closer in cost to 700K by the time she left for the BVI from NY. Either way there is a lot of money invested in that boat and I'm sure there are efforts being launched to recover the boat ASAP, if not only to find out how and why the damages occurred so they can be examined and accounted for in the subsequent boats that are being built at the moment. I can assure you that a salvage effort that far offshore and in those conditions would not be an easy one by any means. It's unfortunate that they set off in such conditions this time of year. I hope everyone is safe and accounted for. With a sail magazine writer aboard I am sure that there will be plenty of eye witness accounts released soon.

Originally Posted by Cotemar

This is a new $400,000 cat. I think I should hire a private ship and run down there for a salvage operation.

[FLLCatsailor]

What would you do if you had a deposit for a hull on order? Pull the plug, or wait it out?

[Dave852]

Originally Posted by FLLCatsailor

What would you do if you had a deposit for a hull on order? Pull the plug, or wait it out?

If a Boeing jet crashes do you not fly Boeing anymore or wait for the investigation. It usually turns out to be pilot error anyway.

[rockDAWG]

Glad everyone is OK.

So does this mean that Be Good Too is free for taking, finders keepers?

Anyone want to hunt for Be Good Too?

[boatman61]

Well I reckon the guy who deferred his order to 2015 has a big happy grin..

[StuM]

My apologies to Boatie.

I thought that write up of "arctic gales...winds up to 35 knots and walls of 8′ seas." was a parody. It turns out that it's a real report by the designers:

Alpha 01 attacks the ice - Aeroyacht

Unbelievable!!! Would you trust a boat offshore when it is designed by people who think that "up to" 35 knots and 8 ft waves constitutes an arctic gale?

[Dulcesuenos]

The report is a huge wave slammed it backwards breaking rudders , maybe what allowed water ingress

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by StuM

My apologies to Boatie.

I thought that write up of "arctic gales...winds up to 35 knots and walls of 8′ seas." was a parody. It turns out that it's a real report by the designers:

Alpha 01 attacks the ice - Aeroyacht

Unbelievable!!! Would you trust a boat offshore when it is designed by people who think that "up to" 35 knots and 8 ft waves constitutes an arctic gale?

Hey.. no worries.. flattered you credited me with the intelligence and imagination...

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by StuM

My apologies to Boatie.

I thought that write up of "arctic gales...winds up to 35 knots and walls of 8′ seas." was a parody. It turns out that it's a real report by the designers:

Alpha 01 attacks the ice - Aeroyacht

Unbelievable!!! Would you trust a boat offshore when it is designed by people who think that "up to" 35 knots and 8 ft waves constitutes an arctic gale?

Technically it's a gale. Whether it's an arctic gale when you're below 60N might be in dispute. But then they're trying to sell boats, big tough boats.

[AKMark]

I think she's a nice looking boat, and I've been watching them since they were first announced. Beauty in a boat can be quite subjective, though, and reasonable people may differ.

Obviously, if you're a catamaran hater, it's not going to do much for you and you don't need to tell us (again) (again) and (again).

I think this catamaran is a nice compromise of cost vs. features, speed vs. comfort. If I had a deposit on a hull, I would not bail. If it's a design flaw/weakness or construction flaw, they'll figure it out and fix it.

They are relatively small company, not some gigantic corporation conglomerate, and they must have put a huge amount of time, $, energy, creativity into this boat. Lots of skin in the game, and I'm sure there are quite a few people who had a disappointing week. I hope the new owner can recover the boat, and very glad that nobody was hurt.

Looking forward to hearing what really happened, and given the background of those involved, I'll bet we get details.

Did anyone hear if Gregor Tarjan was aboard too? I watched that Coast Guard rescue video, but couldn't make out any faces.

BTW- the Coast Guard is amazing. Communications, skills, professionalism, etc. Just another day on the job.

[StuM]

> Technically it's a gale

Guess it depends on your definition:

Met Office: Beaufort scale
Gale
Mean wind speed 37 knots
Limits of windspeed 34 - 42
Probably wave height 5.5m
Probable maximum wave height 7.7m

Compare that to up to 35 knots and 8 ft (less than 2.5 m).