Capsize whilst Motor Sailing ??

[catty]

Report of a cruising catamaran capsize last week in South Africa. The small rescue craft performed well. Has any one anything to add?

See.....S.A. Weather and Disaster Information Service, South Africa: SFB yacht capsizes at sea

[delmarrey]

I guess one should mount the liferaft and EPIRB to the underside of catamarans.

[Astrid]

Well, bad things can happen, even to multihulls. Good thing is, if it does not go ashore to be pounded to bits by the ocean, it would be salvageable easily enough. As has been pointed out in other threads, most mono-hulled sailing cruisers would probably founder if they capsized and were not able to right themselves quickly enough.

[imagine2frolic]

It's just amazing how you jump on every sad cat story, but leave the same stories of monos alone. Did your loved one run off with a catamaran owner?..........i2f

[simonmd]

Originally Posted by imagine2frolic

It's just amazing how you jump on every sad cat story, but leave the same stories of monos alone.

There's a reason for this, it's a classic case of 'air crash syndrome'.

HUNDREDS are killed on the roads every week and no one bats an eyelid, but an aircraft crashes killing 50 people and it's headline news. The reason, just like those that jump on Cat stories, is that it's so rare. Mono's fall over all the time, Cats generaly don't.

[capn_billl]

Motor boats capsize all the time, any boat can capsize if hit by a broadside wave. Sailing vessels are heard about more often because the additional load of the wind on the sail, but the final straw is the tipping of the boat beyond the angle of vanishing stability, by whatever means, (waves, wind, improper loading, momentum, rudder force from high speed turn, center of gravity too high, etc...)

[Southern Star]

I2f, glad to see you haven't lost your wicked sense of humour - that was a great line! And Astrid, thanks for injecting some reason into what could have become an ugly rehash of the never-ending mono/multi debate - coming from the owner of a monohull, it carries much more weight.

Lets face it, 'stuff' happens and thankfully they were all rescued.

Brad

[biltong]

Once again the NSRI have done it again. They are volunteers and are not government sponsored, relying on wherever they are able to find funding. Well done guys. The amount of people the NSRI save annually in our local waters is noteworthy and need more support than all the so called sailing organizations combined.

[Pete7]

I think what is amazing is how few yachts do capsize (regardless of the number of hulls). Afterall how many yachts are there? hmm, lots.

Pete

[imagine2frolic]

Originally Posted by Southern Star

I2f, glad to see you haven't lost your wicked sense of humour - that was a great line! And Astrid, thanks for injecting some reason into what could have become an ugly rehash of the never-ending mono/multi debate - coming from the owner of a monohull, it carries much more weight.

Lets face it, 'stuff' happens and thankfully they were all rescued.

Brad

Humor has helped me survive since childhood. Thanks for the compliment........i2f

[CharlieCobra]

Ya know, I don't get into the fray regarding cats and monos but most monos will come back upright, even when rolled. Cats don't. I happen to like the room on cats more than monos and their speed potential. They just make me nervous. I've managed to pin my mono on it's side. I'd likely end up doing the same with a cat.

[Joli]

I2F, I'm pretty sure Catty owns and sails a multi. Why does he asks about these accidents? Curiosity since he owns a multi or maybe he is making new owners mindful of the possibilities? Only Catty can tell us who he is and what he sails.

My guess? They got nailed by a bullet and if that is what happened then it is pretty amazing, who would have guessed a Knynsa 44 could be blown over. But... rigs are getting bigger for performance so maybe?? It will be intersting to hear the full account from the owner.

Glad they are safe and cheers to NSRI.

Originally Posted by imagine2frolic

It's just amazing how you jump on every sad cat story, but leave the same stories of monos alone. Did your loved one run off with a catamaran owner?..........i2f

[catty]

So that we may learn from this incident, I tried without success to find independent , historical weather observation data for this section of the coast, for the 14th and 15th of June.
Were the conditions as the press reported and from which direction. Does South Africa have a weather department that publishes such data? Can anyone help.

Regards

[Factor]

Originally Posted by Joli

2F, I'm pretty sure Catty owns and sails a multi.

I'm not - My concern with his/Her observations is that I don't know where he/she is coming from as a point of reference, does she/he sail a multi, if so what design - configuration. E.G. A prout Snowgoose owner might very well be highly suspect of a cat that can do more than 5 knots, a Catalac owner might be worried about a boat that is light, an atlantic owner might think that boards are mandatory - etc etc.

Position and perspective are very important to understanding a line of reasoning.

My guess? They got nailed by a bullet and if that is what happened then it is pretty amazing, who would have guessed a Knynsa 44 could be blown over. But... rigs are getting bigger for performance so maybe?? It will be intersting to hear the full account from the owner.

Wow - some extraordinary leaps in logic - You GUESS something and then extrapolate from there. You Start by presuming a particular boat can be blown over then ponder thats cause rigs are getting bigger.

I guess the only thing we agree on is that the it would be interesting to hear from the owner.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Joli

I2F, I'm pretty sure Catty owns and sails a multi.

I've seen no evidence which would support this statement.

He claims he posts about every single capsize anywhere on earth the instant it happens "so we can learn from them"

I'm wondering exactly what he expects anyone to learn from these incidents? Mono's can sink, cats can capsize, I'm sure everyone already knows that.