The Sea is a Harsh Mistress

[MarkJ]

Glad he was found.

EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB EPIRB

I know many on these forums hate electronics and would prefer someone to contact shore only with semaphore, but the reality is this guy was dead man walking where a DSC call in the first place and constantly updated position via GPS EPIRB and AIS SART would have led to a quick rescue.

[ontherocks83]

That's phenomenal news to hear!!!! Very happy he was found before it was too late. Hopefully the details will come out on what happened.

A question though. Does anyone know why the search zone and where he was found were so far apart? I "thought/assumed" they would take current and wind into the equation and factor for how far he drifted. Any experienced SAR members here that can shed some light on my ignorance?

[a64pilot]

It's possible that his reported position was in error, or even maybe written down wrong by the receiver, another reason for automatic electronic position reporting

[atoll]

Originally Posted by ontherocks83

That's phenomenal news to hear!!!! Very happy he was found before it was too late. Hopefully the details will come out on what happened.

A question though. Does anyone know why the search zone and where he was found were so far apart? I "thought/assumed" they would take current and wind into the equation and factor for how far he drifted. Any experienced SAR members here that can shed some light on my ignorance?

at the time he first made his distress call it was near high water in the area,the falling tide can run upto 4 knots in that area,which would account to a certain extent for the wreckage location to the west of his first position.

[scuba0_1]

Glad his boat floated.. good ending...

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[a64pilot]

I don't know about other places, but I believe the US Coast Guard has a program written that lays out search patterns as well as taking wind and current / tides into account to determine where the vessel is and will be

[Dsanduril]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I don't know about other places, but I believe the US Coast Guard has a program written that lays out search patterns as well as taking wind and current / tides into account to determine where the vessel is and will be

Have participated in a few SAR efforts by boat and plane, and having used the drift models, they're only so good. In some parts of the world (and the English Channel is probably one of them) you can probably model wind and current with about 85% confidence for 12-24 hours after an event. The difficulty comes in with modeling the characteristics of the boat, which, as a SAR modeler you've never seen.

Say you have wind over tide (as they did here). In this case a trimaran. Is the boat right-side up or upside down? Did she flip 180, or 90, or 150? In either case is the mast still up? Are there sails still hanging? What is the overall air profile? What is the overall underwater profile? All of these factors will strongly influence the drift model, and when you have currents at 4 knots and winds at force 5-9 (depending on which part of the day) you will get a search area that expands rapidly.

As has been observed PLB, PLB, PLB or DSC, or AIS - they will vector in search teams directly without having to rely on a model.

[Fiveslide]

Wife and I were out about 01:00 doing some night sailing when a Mayday came over the radio. He reported his position as being at <insert actual name here> Creek. We were headed right at this position, yet I couldn't see anything. I asked him to flash his nav lights, still nothing. The search helicopter flew over us and spotlighted us, then went searching south. The boat was about 4 miles away from his reported position, he didn't drift that far in a few minutes, he just didn't know where he was. A power boat with a failed thru-hull or hose and now waterlogged engine. Coast Guard towed him back to his home.

If given a correct position, I could have towed the guy in, saving a ton of CG helicopter and boat fuel. I hope I have better wits about me if I'm ever in that position.

[nigel1]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

It's possible that his reported position was in error, or even maybe written down wrong by the receiver, another reason for automatic electronic position reporting

I read in a Coastguard statement that the Mayday call had been relayed to them by a merchant ship which had picked up a faint mayday call.
So I guess it is possible that the position could have misheard by the receiving ship.
I'm 99% sure that the UK Coastguard would have factored in set, drift, weather etc.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by nigel1

I'm 99% sure that the UK Coastguard would have factored in set, drift, weather etc.

That was my only point, that I am sure they are professional enough to have done so, no comment on how accurate such models are though, as I don't really know, but as time passes I'm sure the probability of error increases with any model

[dannc]

The story showed up on Noonsite.

UK: Man rescued from trimaran off Portland after 11-hour search — Noonsite

Read full report at http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/
A huge search and rescue mission involving Portland and Lee-on-Solent helicopters and the lifeboats from Weymouth, Yarmouth and Bembridge, was sparked on Monday evening.
Rescuers spent around 11-hours out searching for the trimaran in weather conditions that reached force six to seven winds and wave heights of two meters.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said they received a ‘spoken word’ May Day on a VHF radio at around 5pm on Monday and a search was begun which ran from the Isle of Wight along the Jurassic Coast and out into the Channel.
Coastguards at the MOC in Fareham said they were called at around 4am yesterday (Tues) by the British naval vessel HMS St Albans, reporting they were standing by a dismasted trimaran with one person visible on top of the damaged vessel. The RNLI all-weather lifeboat from Weymouth went to the scene and recovered the 52-year-old man.
Andy Sergeant coxswain for Weymouth lifeboat said they went to the scene and HMS Albans was there, illuminating the area.
Mr Sergeant said: “The man was in the cockpit. Both hull riggers had become detached from the hull. The mast had come down. It was basically just the centre part of the boat still floating.”
Mr Sargent said the man was glad to see the rescuers.
He added that the lifeboat went along side and helped the man onto the lifeboat, where he was assessed for any medical issues or injuries.
The coastguard helicopter arrived and was going to lift the man off the lifeboat, but because of the weather conditions and because the man was not injured a decision was made that he should return to Weymouth with the lifeboat, Mr Sergeant said.
Mr Sargent said an ambulance was waiting for the man when they got to shore and described the casualty’s condition as ‘walking wounded.’ He said: “He was able to get off the boat on his own and walk ashore to the ambulance.”
The man is currently in a stable condition recovering at Dorset County Hospital a spokesman for the hospital confirmed.

Later,
Dan

[atoll]

must have been one happy,"Converted Monohull" sailor.................

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by atoll

must have been one happy,"Converted Monohull" sailor.................

Ahyes "monos 4 ever"

[Dsanduril]

Let's turn this into a mono vs. multi thread, we really don't have enough of those on CF

I'll start by noting that the mast was gone, both floats/amas were detached, and the man was standing in the upright cockpit of his still floating main hull. I'm sure he didn't want the easy conversion to a life raft, but better than floating around in 15C water for 12 hours.

[Hydra]

It appears that both floats/amas were damaged in a collision with a floating log. This explains why the boat was wrecked in 2m waves where it should be OK to sail.

Alain