Mono or Multi in this Situation ?

[catty]

Devastation at the Kings Cup.

Check out the pictures....News of the Phuket King's Cup Regatta

Regards

[Bash]

Regardless of the number of hulls, the one constant among ultralight racing boats is going to be inadequate ground tackle.

[DaveOnCudjoe]

Looks like a nasty blow. All those boats in such close quarters is a recipe for disaster as one dragging catches the others. Bash is right about ground tackle, my 31 is so weight sensitive that my ground tackle is minimal though I do carry 2 sets. So far as mono or multi in this situation, I think "Miss Siagon" demonstrates the advantage of a tri in this case. Ground tackle must be sized for windage not just displacement in a multi. Dave

[maxingout]

I have anchored in that bay with my 70 pound beugel anchor and 200 feet of high test chain without a problem.

If you anchor in shallow water with inadequate ground tackle, then things like this happen.

Similar thing happened in Cabo San Lucas.

This was a disaster that should never have happened. Reports were that winds were 25 knots in the accounts that I read.

If you anchor in shallow water and there is a strong wind that comes up from offshore, the surf line will move out from the shore and get closer and closer to the yachts. When the surf line reaches the anchored yachts with light ground tackle, all hell breaks loose. No surprise here. That's what I would expect to happen.

I am sorry these people had damage to their yachts or lost their yacht.

Sailing and anchoring are all about physics. If you put yourself in harms way and if you don't have the physics on your side, then don't be surprised when you get hurt. Every time you anchor your yacht, you must ask yourself what could go wrong in this anchorage, and you have a contingency ready so that you can take action if conditions deteriorate.

Every anchorage is a venus fly trap that sucks you into complacency and a suspension of good judgment. Beautiful sunset, crystal clear water, parties onshore, camaraderie - what could possibly go wrong?

A lot could go wrong. If the venus fly trap shuts the door on you, you may even lose your yacht.

People worry about sailing offshore, but offshore is probably the safest place you can be on your yacht.

Anchorages are scary places. Lots of things can go wrong in anchorages. Probably more yachts are lost in anchorages than any other place.

Anchorages are all about physics. What happens if a tsunami strikes while you are at anchor. We were in Phuket during the global tsunami. All the yachts anchored in fifty feet of water did fine during the tsunami. It's physics.

Shallow anchorages are dangerous. Physics work against you in shallow anchorages, and if you have light ground tackle, you have pushed the physics in the wrong direction - you will have a problem and might even lose your yacht.

[imagine2frolic]

I anchor in shallow water. I try to keep the water depth at least twice my draft. That will keep me off the bottom, and grounding.........i2f

[hummingway]

It seems to me that while you're quite right it could have been avoided, Dave, these were racers and in many races you hear of things occurring that you could say shouldn't from a cruisers perspective but racers make a risk assessment that has has a different balancing point then what cruisers do. Bash pointed out that racers are going to have light ground tackle and having read some of his "credentials" I presume it is his deep experience in the area speaking. I presume that's because to carry heavier tackle would mean reduced race performance?

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Bash

Regardless of the number of hulls, the one constant among ultralight racing boats is going to be inadequate ground tackle.

I took this photo in the Whitsundays during Hamilton Island race week. IMO it illustrates this point quite well.

I found it quite amusing -they had no anchor windlass, but they did have a sponsor......

[Bash]

Originally Posted by hummingway

Bash pointed out that racers are going to have light ground tackle and having read some of his "credentials" I presume it is his deep experience in the area speaking. I presume that's because to carry heavier tackle would mean reduced race performance?

Interesting how a misspent youth keeps coming back to haunt me.

Weight is everything in the ultralight and/or one design worlds. I removed the toilets from my first two boats because porcelain is slow. We used to agonize prior to a race on how many spinnakers to carry, and I once crewed on a 53-footer where the tactician weighed your duffel when you came aboard.

Rest assured that the great majority of the boats pictured above were using undersize Fortress anchors with no more than six feet of chain, if that. Those anchors would have been stowed with their rodes in bags that sit atop the keel bolts in order to keep the weight low.

The worst place for weight is on the bow, so you'll NEVER see a serious ultralight racer with a windlass. (Or, for that matter, with bow rollers, which increase windage.)

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

I took this photo in the Whitsundays during Hamilton Island race week. IMO it illustrates this point quite well.

I found it quite amusing -they had no anchor windlass, but they did have a sponsor......

Great photo!

for those who don't know, Muir is a manufacturer of quality anchor windlasses.

Good one, 44.

Cheers,

Jim

[Boracay]

The other aspect to anchoring that close to the beach is that the mud turns to sand, and sand can have much less holding power than the mud that may be found a little further out.

Found this out last weekend when we anchored close to a little beach near the zoo (lunch only - 25' of water) on a mixture of sand and mud. We dragged our new generation anchor for the first time.