What Can Cause the Sinking of a Sailboat on Open Seas?

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by AiniA

There is an underseas volcano off the coast of Grenada called Kick-em-Jenny that has an exclusion zone around it. The fear is that if it erupted the gases being produced would reduce the density of the water to the point that a boat passing would sink, possibly without even seeing any evidence of the eruption.

I guess it would be one of those "surely the day can't get any worse?" kinda things (sinking like a stone to the ocean floor.......and then yer land in a volcano ).

[boatman61]

Its one of the theories offered for the Bermuda Triangle... a sudden release of methane from the undersea strata over a large area that remove both water and areal stability causing ships and planes directly above to just fall like stones...

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

I've found every instance of sinking that an amount of water has entered the hull greater than the hull's ability to carry water.

Ding-ding-ding! This is the winning answer.

When the weight of the water inside the hull exceeds the weight of the water displaced by the hull, sinking of the hull is inevitable, ceteris paribus.

If the question isn't what can cause the sinking of a sailboat on open seas, but rather, "What can cause a sailboat on the open ocean to take on enough water to sink?" . . . then the answer list becomes much, much longer and is filled with almost infinite variety.

TaoJones

[jeremiason]

A friend of mine was sailing down Baja California in some heavy winds... The boat came surfing down a wave at around 16 knots and ran over a whale who had surfaced to breathe.

The boat's rudder post was pulled aft like a can opener, causing a large hole to open. All attempts to stem the water flow and de-water the boat were negative. The boat sunk in less than 30 minutes.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by jeremiason

A friend of mine was sailing down Baja California in some heavy winds... The boat came surfing down a wave at around 16 knots and ran over a whale who had surfaced to breathe.

The boat's rudder post was pulled aft like a can opener, causing a large hole to open. All attempts to stem the water flow and de-water the boat were negative. The boat sunk in less than 30 minutes.

Sure sure , but what happened to the whale

Dave

[Teknav]

...the whale told its buddies...I used to have that itchy thinggy on my back...now somehow its gone...

Mauritz
Going to behave now!

[daddle]

Originally Posted by TaoJones

Ding-ding-ding! This is the winning answer.

When the weight of the water inside the hull exceeds the weight of the water displaced by the hull, sinking of the hull is inevitable, ceteris paribus.

...

TaoJones

Bzzzzzzzt! Wrong answer! You lose. Next contestant please!

A hull with an underwater hole it it behaves entirely differently.

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by daddle

A hull with an underwater hole it it behaves entirely differently.

Bwaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha . . . that's an "interesting" statement, daddle . . . is it supposed to mean something?

Are you suggesting that if I were to chop, say, a 4" hole below the waterline in the hull of your Santa Cruz, that it would not result in the sinking of the vessel when the weight of enough water, entering through that hole, exceeds the weight of the water displaced by the hull? Such a miraculous outcome is, indeed, entirely different behavior than physics predicts.

Do you have any understanding of why a vessel floats in the first place?

TaoJones

[daddle]

Tao - Yes, the situation you describe in #33 is impossible for my boat, as it is impossible for all typical boats. The original comment by Sailmonkey may be true. Your restatement of the problem in #38 is different, unclear, but nevertheless appears to be false.

[bobconnie]

Ahhh, Im with Daddle on this one ! Displacement is displacement, don't matter where the water gets in ! once the water inside exceeds the displacement of the hull, the boat sinks Period ! Heck I learned this in junior high math !

[bobconnie]

WOOPS I mean I agree with Tao Jones Im gonna yell old age on this mistake LOL sorry

[Roy M]

Lead, or steel or concrete or whatever people put in ballast. Arthur Piver, the "father" of modern trimarans, had a boat that had replaceable panels in each hull. He'd go out with a customer, then chop holes in the panels, then sail the boat back home.

[TeddyDiver]

With a hole below WL the sea is both sides of the hull, in and out, so evidently the only weight matters is the weight of the boat. Displacement diminishes a bit during the process...

[bobconnie]

TD, thats what displacement is ! the weight of the vessel compared to the weight of the water it displaces. When it fills it's not displaceing! hence it sinks OK?

[minaret]

Originally Posted by TaoJones

Bwaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha . . . that's an "interesting" statement, daddle . . . is it supposed to mean something?

Are you suggesting that if I were to chop, say, a 4" hole below the waterline in the hull of your Santa Cruz, that it would not result in the sinking of the vessel when the weight of enough water, entering through that hole, exceeds the weight of the water displaced by the hull? Such a miraculous outcome is, indeed, entirely different behavior than physics predicts.

Do you have any understanding of why a vessel floats in the first place?

TaoJones

What about a boat with positive floatation?