Merged Thread: New Zealand Yacht with One Deceased and Another Missing

[redbeard1]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

^^^^



Does anyone know if the aft cockpit could be accessed from below decks?

And a question, given the mass of that boom, thanks El Pinguino for the photo, instead of running off with the turn, what if they had come up to maybe 45-50 deg off the wind? Would the wind have been enough to stabilize the boom lying against the spreaders? with the hope of securing it there?

Ann

Hi,


I just finished skimming this. I'm sorry for the two crew members and their families.


The report has lots of good suggestions/data and may be worth a skim.


To answer two of your questions, it does not appear the cockpit could be accessed from below (that said, the owner and remaining crew took turns trying to steer boat shortly after crash gibe so I assume they timed their approach to the wheel).



Also, the report suggests that keeping a little more mainsail up could've been useful for using the wind to pin the boom to one side (but also concedes that leaving more sail up could have made the boom swings worse and caused more damage). Report says boom was around 700 kg. The report mentions that owner brought down all but small piece of mainsail before the boom destroyed the hydraulics needed to raise/lower sail.



Another suggestion to control the boom involved letting topping lift run and then tying it off. That said, my IQ always seems to drop when I'm on the boat and I can't imagine coming up with that idea given what had just happened.


The one key takeaway for me was to practice MOB until they are almost instinct. I'd like to believe that if a crew has twenty? thirty? MOB practice sessions, then the crew will automatically throw a cushion into the water. Although, I'd concede that in these conditions, who knows how much training will remain.

[JPA Cate]

Hi, redbeard,

Yes, there was a bit of sail up, and no control over the boom, and one wishes someone had tossed a cushion (questioning if any were easily available).

But, look at the picture of the guy on the boom, it's maybe 25 ft long, and offers on the side, perhaps 1.5 ft. So, an area of very approximately 37.5 sq. ft. The pressure supplied by the wind goes up as the square of the velocity. I don't really have the education to figure beyond this, the variables having to to with shape and various types of flow are beyond me. Hence my question about whether coming up to make the wind hold the boom against the spreaders might have worked.....and why or why not.

Thanks for your response. I'm still wondering, 'cause it is what I would have tried, I think. We've had difficult moments at sea, and Jim's ideas have been better than mine, and I'd like to improve.

Ann

[Scotty Kiwi]

What am I missing?

On my yachts, I think without exception, it's only the main or the topping lift that keep the boom off the pilot house roof, or the deck. Without one or the other , the lazy jack stays would stretch of tear and the boom is on the cabin roof.

So in this situation, what was keeping the boom off the deck?

[Palarran]

The boom vang?

[Scotty Kiwi]

Originally Posted by Palarran

The boom vang?

Never had one of those modern things, but if you did can't it be controlled from the base of the mast?

[redbeard1]

Originally Posted by Scotty Kiwi

What am I missing?

On my yachts, I think without exception, it's only the main or the topping lift that keep the boom off the pilot house roof, or the deck. Without one or the other , the lazy jack stays would stretch of tear and the boom is on the cabin roof.

So in this situation, what was keeping the boom off the deck?

Hello,


Report mentions crew tried to lower boom, by releasing toping lift, in an effort to pin boom to one side. The boom was help up by a hydraulic boom vang.



I'm not very familiar with these hydraulic boom bangs, but if they are built like a car's shock absorber, then releasing the pressure would have been unlikely in those circumstances.

[Tillsbury]

With most boom vangs, you can only lower the boom by so much. Certainly not to the deck without lifting the boom with the topping lift to take the load off the vang and then releasing it completely.

[Red Sky]

Originally Posted by Scotty Kiwi

Never had one of those modern things, but if you did can't it be controlled from the base of the mast?

I believe the report said they were hesitant to try and move forward due to the inability to control the boat and the swinging of the boom. I would imagine every time that 3/4 of a ton swung into the rod rigging on the shrouds they were surprised the rig wasn’t coming down, which it eventually did, of course.