Keel Failure in the Canaries

[44'cruisingcat]

Lucky crew:


Keel Failure off the Canary Islands >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News

[micah719]

Well done The Artillery! Ubique!

[RoseofWight]

The yacht that lost its keel

https://www.swisssailingconnection.ch/tyger-of-london/

Promo video in the link "Surf the Tyger"

[Jim Cate]

Any info about the construction of this yacht? Didn't seem to be in Sailboat Data.

And yes, good job by the gunslingers!

Jim

[Kelkara]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Any info about the construction of this yacht? Didn't seem to be in Sailboat Data.

Isn't this the model?
COMET 45 S sailboat specifications and details on sailboatdata.com

[robert sailor]

Polux might chime in as he's a Comet fan.

[belizesailor]

Good job, lucky another vessel was nearby.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Kelkara

Isn't this the model?
COMET 45 S sailboat specifications and details on sailboatdata.com

Yep, that looks right. Dunno why my search failed... incompetence, no doubt!

It does look like a highly stressed keel design... long strut and bulb, small footprint. Wonder what part failed?

I do think it is one of the designs that Polux cites as a modern cruiser... looks a fun boat to sail, until...

Jim

[Polux]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

Polux might chime in as he's a Comet fan.

I am not a fan of anything. Not a fan kind of guy

There are many boats of that model that was one of the bigger success from Comar, maybe more than 100 45s and the boats were extensively used for racing, sometimes on very nasty conditions and never a keel was lost neither on the 45s, neither on the 41s or on the 50s, all boats from the same series.

They were when new expensive boats, kind of same price as a X yacht or a Grand Soleil and the built quality was good. The kell bolts are huge by comparison with other yachts and the backing plates massive.

I know of other high quality yachts that have lost the keel (not many) namely a Swedish Yacht 42 and a Maxi 37?, both had been grounded hard and not repaired conveniently.

I asked to someone that is knowledgeable on Comets if he knew if that boat had been grounded. I hope they can recover the hull to determine what was the cause.

[Polux]

Some good news. The hull did not sunk and was towed to the Canary Islands where it is going to be subjected to a Survey.

Comar has built 1500 boats and this is the first one that lose a keel, according to the shipyard. They suspect a non repaired hard grounding to be the cause. The survey will tell.

I never looked at the bolts that secure the keel on Comet 45s but the ones on the comet 41s are bigger than the ones used on the Bavaria 46 vision and the backing plates much bigger.

I saw some bad photos of the upturned hull and it seemed to be intact, only with the keel missing. The fact that the boat did not sunk supports that hypothesis.

Another possible cause can be metal fatigue on the keel bolts caused by the movements of a lose keel. It is very important to check if the keel boats are tight. If not the movement can rapidly and dramatically increase metal fatigue.

A good report by the Deutsche magazine Yacht.de
Schon wieder: Segelyacht verliert ihren Kiel

And the same yacht (Tyger of london) sailing upwind on a F9.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HozY3LQmnSk

The yacht was used for charter by this company:
https://www.swisssailingconnection.ch/

[Suijin]

"one of whom had been trapped beneath it by her harness"

That one line right there was enough to make the hair on my neck stand on end. Must have been incredibly traumatic. What a nightmare, and how awesome that she was rescued safely.

Maybe it's just coincidence but the few times I've been around the south end of Tenerife it always seems to be blowing a gale and be lumpy as heck. Remember the last time I specifically thought "This has got to be hard on local boats."

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by Suijin

"one of whom had been trapped beneath it by her harness"

That one line right there was enough to make the hair on my neck stand on end. Must have been incredibly traumatic. What a nightmare, and how awesome that she was rescued safely.

Maybe it's just coincidence but the few times I've been around the south end of Tenerife it always seems to be blowing a gale and be lumpy as heck. Remember the last time I specifically thought "This has got to be hard on local boats."

We had the same experience in this area.

[arsenelupiga]

monohulls should be built with integrated keel - fiberglased with the hull and not using bolts. this is structural issue waiting to explode and i would not dare sailing one except in bays. Vibrations from going upwind, which is favourite point of sail for monhullers, tire material and expose crew to mortal danger where there is < 30% chances of survival.

this particular crew was extremely lucky, beating the odds.

[Polux]

Originally Posted by arsenelupiga

monohulls should be built with integrated keel - fiberglased with the hull and not using bolts. this is structural issue waiting to explode and i would not dare sailing one except in bays. Vibrations from going upwind, which is favourite point of sail for monhullers, tire material and expose crew to mortal danger where there is < 30% chances of survival.

this particular crew was extremely lucky, beating the odds.

You sound like Seaslug Caravan LOL

Do you know how many boats are with bolted keels? That's the standard of the industry since the fin keel appeared more than 30 years ago. There are certainly several hundred thousand and very few lost the keel.

There was an investigation recently and they looked at all the cases and they were not many. That is because it is so unusual that when it happens it is reported everywhere.

Upwind is not the favorite point of hull for monohullers, it is just the most common point of sail due to the apparent wind. The fastest sailboats sail always upwind.

[arsenelupiga]

Originally Posted by Polux

You sound like Seaslug Caravan LOL
.

i am trying to do same service to monohull fans as he is to multihull owners.