sailboat lost ???

[gforcepdx]

on the afternoon news i heard a quick blurb about a sailboat that washed up without its crew around astoria, oregon. it was said the boat was being delivered from south africa to an american owner... we had a wicked storm with 100 mile an hour winds that day [thursday]. i have looked for more news and have not found anything... does any one here know any more about this ?

[labatt]

Here's the link to the article... very unfortunate.

http://www.kgw.com/news-local/storie....11c89a7c.html

[camaraderie]

Wow...pretty ugly. Hope they find the guys in a life raft somewhere...but what the hell were they doing delivering a Cat to the Pacific Northwest in DECEMBER??? Hope we get more info down the road.

[sailingdog]

Their timing and observation of weather windows was less than optimal. The story doesn't say much about the captain and crew hired to deliver the boat, other than they left SFO on December 8. I doubt that the rope was "tied" around the prop—more likely it was washed overboard and got wrapped, which would be a big problem if they were motoring in heavy seas.

[Tartan34C]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

I doubt that the rope was "tied" around the prop—more likely it was washed overboard and got wrapped, which would be a big problem if they were motoring in heavy seas.

Maybe the crew tried to stay with the boat after she flipped with a line to the shaft?
All the best,
Robert Gainer

[sailingdog]

Originally Posted by Tartan34C

Maybe the crew tried to stay with the boat after she flipped with a line to the shaft?
All the best,
Robert Gainer

Rob-

I truly hope that is not the case, as that would indicate that there were no survivors.

[paulk]

I believe the CG press release used the words "tied to the propeller". With the water temperature what it is there, no survivors are likely. Reports indicated 20-30 foot waves with periods of 9 seconds. The catamaran was about 40 feet long.

[Tartan34C]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

Rob-

I truly hope that is not the case, as that would indicate that there were no survivors.

I didn’t express myself very well; I wanted to say that the liferaft was attached to the shaft. I didn’t think that a person would lash themselves to the boat like that. I hope the raft shows up with the crew.
All the best,
Robert Gainer

[sailingdog]

Rob-

In many cases of a multihull capsize, the crew does tie themselves to the boat, which is very unlikely to sink.

[CBinRI]

This does not do much to build my confidence in Cats in big seas and heavy winds. I know that some say they are safer than monohulls, but once they go over, there is no turning back.