Dumb Luck ?

[sneuman]

Saw this on Sailing Anarchy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBsA3...layer_embedded

[Vasco]

Wow!!! Maybe exceptional boat handling.

[maytrix]

I'd say dumb captain and good luck.

There's a thread on this already. Bottom line - Waves, wind and everything else in conditions like that are unpredictable. No matter how easy the captain made it look, there was a LOT of luck involved. One shift in the breeze, an unexpected wave..etc and that would be a tragic video.

[Connemara]

Looks like a pretty puckerish moment. Not sure I'd have tried....but maybe they had no choice.

Connemara

[hoppy]

Those wacky Danes

There is certainly not much margin for error


Svaneke Havn, 3740, Svaneke, Denmark - Google Maps

[Dreaming Yachtsman]

Reminds me of surfing the breakers into Bahia del Sol, El Salvador.
Picasa Web Albums - John Bickford - Crossing_the_Bar
This documentary is not available in video format but stepping through the slide show gives you a feel for the adrenalin rush I experienced when the wife said, "Don't look back!"

[Therapy]

Wow, so that is planing huh?

[omaho5]

I hope that they have a change of underwear.

[Connemara]

On a second and third look, I maybe incline to good boat handling. If you compare the video to the photo of the harbor, you can pick out the breakwater with the light tower on it.

Notice that the boat comes past the seaward end of the breakwater and cuts sharply into its lee. Then water over the breakwater picks it up and slides it sideways just enough so that the combination of motions shoots the boat through the gap.

If they don't cut in hard, I don't think they make it. And it doesn't look as though there's enough room to go around and try again.

So, good boat handling, reading the water and judging speeds.

Or, alternatively, a lot of luck.


Connemara

[maytrix]

While it certainly took good boat handling without question, was it really good judgement?

I haven't had the opportunity (nor do I want to) handle a boat in conditions like that, but I think it could be akin to driving on ice. Good driving can get you through a tricky situation, but no matter how good a driver you are, there are still factors you can't control.