A tragic end of Lagoon Catamaran

[chakil]

A Turkish couple, who had sold everything they owned to chase their dream of sailing around the world, bought a catamaran and began their journey. After spending some time in Turkey preparing and living aboard, they finally set sail on their world tour. But tragedy struck in the Caribbean — their catamaran sank due to water ingress through the emergency escape hatch.

For months now, they’ve been fighting a legal battle with both their insurance company and Lagoon, trying to receive compensation for their devastating loss. They plan to share the entire legal process with the sailing community through their YouTube channel, step by step.

But the real question we all need to ask is: how did this happen?

It turns out that Lagoon was already aware of this issue and had sent out a so-called “repair kit” to affected owners. However, this so-called solution is, quite frankly, a joke. The kit consists of two small plastic pieces that are meant to be attached behind the hatch glass. Think about it — in 3 to 4 meter waves, can we seriously believe that such a flimsy plastic add-on can hold a glass panel in place, especially if it wasn’t properly designed or manufactured to begin with?

What’s even more alarming is that not just Lagoon, but many other major catamaran brands have used the same glass and hatch system. And because they’ve issued this “repair kit,” manufacturers claim no further responsibility. Yet, if this failure happens to you, there is a high chance your insurance will deny your claim — and you’ll be left with nothing.

We need to spread this information widely. Every catamaran owner deserves to know the risks involved, and the shocking lack of accountability behind what could be a life-threatening design flaw.

https://youtu.be/qbqOEubDuIU

[GordMay]

Goiot escape hatches recall campaign for multihull builders, from LAGOON, FOUNTAINE PAJOT, CATANA-BALI, NAUTITECH
➥ https://admin.catamarans-lagoon.com/sites/default/files/2023-11/Press-release-Goiot-escape-hatches-recall.pdf

“... GOIOT SYSTEMS has notified the boatbuilders of a recall campaign concerning the escape hatches delivered before September 2018 and the Goiot safety kits, due to a risk of the hatches detaching from their frames, which could affect safety during navigation ...”

LAGOON Recall on Goiot products
This notification is only for catamarans built from years 2007 to 2019 and equipped with Goiot brand escape fixed hatches.
➥ https://www.catamarans-lagoon.com/news/article/recall-goiot-products

[Chotu]

Close em up!

I did not put these in my boat. They are ridiculous.

If you want to get out through the hull without swimming in the event of turning over, just bring an axe. Even a hatchet that you would use camping to keep it lightweight. That’s all you need.

[leecea]

If the boat is upside down and you're in a air pocket in the hull, I assume the air pocket exists because the hull is sealed and the air can't escape.

I also assume that once the hull is no longer sealed, air will escape fairly quickly and the water will rise. After the first penetration, it will become a race against time to make the hole big enough for escape before the water level rises too much.

If someone had a spare fiberglass panel equivalent in construction to a typical catamaran hull, it would be interesting to see how long it took to cut an escape hole.

[Cloroxbottle]

Originally Posted by chakil

But tragedy struck in the Caribbean — their catamaran sank due to water ingress through the emergency escape hatch.

In general, I'm opposed to cutting large holes in the bottom of boats. Yes, it may provide an escape hatch in case of a capsize. But what are the odds of that happening vs the known problem of leaking seals and hatches? Same thing goes for sail drives.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by leecea

If the boat is upside down and you're in a air pocket in the hull, I assume the air pocket exists because the hull is sealed and the air can't escape.

I also assume that once the hull is no longer sealed, air will escape fairly quickly and the water will rise. After the first penetration, it will become a race against time to make the hole big enough for escape before the water level rises too much.

If someone had a spare fiberglass panel equivalent in construction to a typical catamaran hull, it would be interesting to see how long it took to cut an escape hole.

You’re forgetting a couple of things in the imaginary scenario.

The air pocket exists because the boat is buoyant. Well, maybe not a lagoon. Ha ha ha ha. But a good one is buoyant.

You see, the sink drains go right overboard. Above the waterline. An inverted Catamaran typically floats right about at its bridge deck. Again, a lagoon, probably would not. It would sink. But a good Catamaran will float on its bridgedeck when upside down.

So, in the oversimplified picture, you'd imagine it’s airtight. But it’s not. The exits for the sinks, the bilge pumps, etc. These all create passages for the air to escape. Then let’s look at thruhulls. Many of these are connected to systems that are open and have vented loops and things like that. Another place for air to escape.

and given that most production Catamarans also do not have proper watertight bulkheads, the air will also escape out the ends. Through engine room areas. Vents where the engines are, etc.

So I’m going to agree with you in the end. If you have a lagoon, you probably need those escape hatches because that thing is sinking to the bottom. As we have seen happened so many times. Very poorly designed boats.

But if you have a different type of catamaran you don’t need those escape hatches because it’s not going to sink.

A hatchet will do just fine.

And it's quite easy to break up a hull with a hatchet

[Tin Tin]

In addition to Gord's post above https://www.boatindustry.com/news/33...ard-catamarans

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by chakil

It turns out that Lagoon was already aware of this issue and had sent out a so-called “repair kit” to affected owners. However, this so-called solution is, quite frankly, a joke. The kit consists of two small plastic pieces that are meant to be attached behind the hatch glass. Think about it — in 3 to 4 meter waves, can we seriously believe that such a flimsy plastic add-on can hold a glass panel in place, especially if it wasn’t properly designed or manufactured to begin with?

The challenge for the owners of the lost vessel is, there WAS a recall. It is somewhat irrelevant that the fix MIGHT fail. There was a solution provided by the hatch manufacturer and published by the boat manufacturer.

It will be difficult to hold either the hatch manufacturer or the boat manufacturer liable IF the boat owner didn't satisfy/implement the recall.

As for insurance. The loss was resulted directly from a failure that was involved in a recall. If that recall wasn't addressed (in this case it had been published since Nov. 2023....1.5 years ago) then the insurance company reserves the right to deny the claim as well. The insurance company can't go after the manufacturer or the builder in this case.

[Montanan]

There is a simple and secure method of dogging closed a watertight hatch as illustrated in the 21-second-long video link to Reddit below:


https://www.reddit.com/r/Unexpected/...t=share_button


Resolving water ingress while availing personnel passage aboard vessels has long been accomplished, not rocket science nor maritime science.

Please share with all Condomaran and half-boat owners this simple design feature.

This design of hatch closure mets all standards and insurance company acceptance.

[Jim Conch]

Well, that sucks. Thank you for the information. I was actually considering getting another boat, a Gemini cat. Now, It' something to consider.

[ol1970]

On our new cat build we instructed the builder to permanently glass in the window and we have a small lightweight hammer nearby to break it in the unlikely case it was needed. My understanding is that to be a CE certified Class A ocean going vessel they are necessary, but I had heard that rule was potentially being changed…and if so that would be great to eliminate them all together.

[Jenta]

Just a couple points I would like to make so as not to propagate bad information.

The Goiot hatch in question was used by several manufacturers. Not every manufacturer provided the same fix but the one from Lagoon was NOT plastic and I doubt any others were either.
It was two roughly 6-inch-long aluminum brackets that fit over two sides of the glass and screwed into the hull.
The failure mode is that the adhesive sealant holding the glass in weakens and loses adhesion. Often there is leaking going on prior to total failure. But it is important to note that the glass falls OUT and it isn't that anything that actually breaks. Waves crashing into the glass will not "suck it out" but if the adhesive is failing it will eventually fail.
The brackets simply hold the glass in the frame. Should the adhesive fail with these in place the window will certainly leak, but it should not fall out and while it would be a major event - it should be a manageable leak.
You CAN inspect the hatch yourself and test the adhesive and fully replace it very easily and add your own "fix" quite easily without getting a whole new hatch or glassing it in if you don't want to. It's not rocket science and worth the peace of mind to enhance it's safety in some way.
The non-recalled Goiot hatches of the same era simply had screws in the corners holding in the glass and were not a source of failure.
Prior to this hatch design, they used ones that were dogged and could be opened and that probably sunk as many or more boats honestly. Whether broken toggles or negligently left open the results would be nearly as bad.
HOWEVER... It needs to be inspected and improved upon if your boat has a hatch of the same design. It's just too close to the waterline to be ignored.

And the second thing is that I feel the statement about a Lagoon not staying afloat if capsized is unnecessary. Any catamaran that capsizes could sink depending on the level of damage to the hull or if it is grossly overloaded. However, the watertight compartments and the buoyancy of the construction make that scenario entirely uncommon. Any area that is foam or balsa cored is going to have the most buoyancy. Taking our Lagoon 440 for reference, it is solid core below the waterline but cored above the waterline. If you flip the boat over, you now have the most buoyant parts of the boat in the water not to mention all the wood and other things that likely contain a good amount of air like diesel/water/waste tanks throughout the boat.

I get that your boat is a performance boat built light and solid to be a great performing boat and have no doubt about that. But it is still all those great things without unduly trashing other boats that have already proven their value and worth for what they are. No need to pile on!

[Factor]

Part of the problem is the ridiculous racing rules of sailing special regs, that require escape hatches, whilst many don't race they have become a defect standard for many people who believe that they area good guide to safe practices.

[wholybee]

Is this hatch below the waterline? Is the recall and admission of guilt? They knew there was a life threatening issue, and didn't do enough to see that all the boats were fixed?

It seems weird to me that an escape hatch would be of glass or acrylic or any transparent material. And more so that it would rely on an adhesive. I would expect something very solid, that would have to be opened very intentionally, almost with some difficulty. Like a solid aluminum door with at least 4 dogs holding it in place.

And, assuming the boat is turtled, wouldn't it sink very fast once you opened it? If you swam, and yeah you would need to be a good swimmer, you would at least have a floating boat still once you got out.

[skipperpete]

Originally Posted by Chotu

You’re forgetting a couple of things in the imaginary scenario.

The air pocket exists because the boat is buoyant. Well, maybe not a lagoon. Ha ha ha ha. But a good one is buoyant.

You see, the sink drains go right overboard. Above the waterline. An inverted Catamaran typically floats right about at its bridge deck. Again, a lagoon, probably would not. It would sink. But a good Catamaran will float on its bridgedeck when upside down.

So, in the oversimplified picture, you'd imagine it’s airtight. But it’s not. The exits for the sinks, the bilge pumps, etc. These all create passages for the air to escape. Then let’s look at thruhulls. Many of these are connected to systems that are open and have vented loops and things like that. Another place for air to escape.

and given that most production Catamarans also do not have proper watertight bulkheads, the air will also escape out the ends. Through engine room areas. Vents where the engines are, etc.

So I’m going to agree with you in the end. If you have a lagoon, you probably need those escape hatches because that thing is sinking to the bottom. As we have seen happened so many times. Very poorly designed boats.

But if you have a different type of catamaran you don’t need those escape hatches because it’s not going to sink.

A hatchet will do just fine.

And it's quite easy to break up a hull with a hatchet

I forgot about the sink drains as vents, thanks for the reminder, as to remaining afloat, the tri “Rose Nôelle” floated for 119 days before drifting onto a nasty rocky shore, no loss of life although I would imagine the sanity of the crew would be under pressure living on the outside of the hull.