Incident at Great Guana Cay, Abacos

[Garrettw]

Originally Posted by waterwks4me

Considering the weight of the Mako and moving even at a moderate speed, the laws of physics would indicate a considerable force at impact. From the looks of it, the Beneteau held up nicely in my opinion. I believe almost any glass boat no matter the builder would have sustained at the least moderate to heavy damage. Lets hope the couple aboard are not too badly hurt. Alcohol involved or not, find it kinda hard for the Mako captain to not see it. Hope Kokopelli and owners get their life back to normal soon.

Agreed. Assuming that a loaded (fuel and outboards) 30' Mako weighs in at about 3900kg and was going around 35kts, I calculate a force at impact of around 625 kilojoules. That's the equivalent of about 160 grams of TNT or a bit less than a stick of dynamite. Trying to use this as an argument against manufacturing techniques is laughably ignorant, at best.

[DDabs]

Oh man, what a bummer. So sorry to the owners of Kokopelli. If it is the same boat I am thinking of, I was staying near them at the New Bern Grand Marina last October. Also, the boat "Cool Hand Too" could possibly be the sailing vessel that just reached Ft Pierce Marina. Crazy that this happened to a boat that I used to see every day walking down the dock. For being hit at that speed, as everyone else has said, I am surprised at the hull integrity of the Beneteau. Quite solid I'd say. I can't even imagine how horrific it was for the owners of Kokopelli to be down below and experience the impact... I think I would have had a heart attack. I wish the owners the best.


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[barnakiel]

big engines small brains

we have seen it how many times

i hope the sailors will recover and the power boaters will end up with a heavy fine

b.