[opusnz]

Im inclined to think that this boat being so long as well as old simply broke apart from serious wave actions. I read the boat was excellently maintained but its still 80a plus years old and i assume made of wood. All it takes is for a weak point to exist or develop. I think this boat was broken by a wave and sank in seconds or minutes. Its been over 3 weeks and they were in hurrican winds. The boat was too long for such an extended pounding and too old to be counted on to maintain structual inegrity for such a pronounced series of low pressure storm cells and hard wave action.

I get no joy from writing this but i do not think we will ever hear from this boat or crew again. Metal or fiberglass even after eighty years wear down. I think such a long wooden boat, a racing style no less, simply met her match and lost.

I hope im wrong.

Wood is one of most fatigue resistant materials know to man. That is why trees can flex and bend many hundreds of years without breaking.

Everything points to Nina being well maintained. It is possible the owners missed something in an overhaul or haulout but that is true of any boat. As long as the fastenings are good and there is no rot and no termites, her being long or more than 80 years old means nothing.

 

[opusnz]

Harborless,

I think you are just speculating and really don't understand wooden boats. The fact that she was over 80 years old probably means she was built out of better old growth timber and actually probably better construction than a new build.

I don't want to highjack the thread since anything could have happened. We could all speculate until the cows come home but I think suddenly breaking in two because she is long or old is probably one of the least likely scenarios.

 

[opusnz]

Sure do....

I also understand how wild speculation can hurt friends and relatives.

 

[opusnz]

I said it before but sailing in June is not that unusual. Cyclone season ends about April. You can try going in April and many do but you take the risk of a late season cyclone coming down from the tropics. There were a few this year. May would have been the preferred time to go but only if the weather was settled. June is normally OK but whatever month you go, you need to watch the systems and pick your opportunity.

No time is without risk but having said that, the vast majority of boats go without a problem.
The storm that hit them was an intense depression that formed quickly, and moved fast. Even with the best weather forecasting, it could have caught them by surprise. The Tasman Sea and area around NZ can be nasty at any time of the year.

 

[opusnz]

Wow.... cynical is one word for it.

I suppose you also don't think the Apollo moon landings ever happened .

 

[opusnz]

>>>>>Rouge wave or hull failure.
otherwise one of the seven would have activated.
went down in seconds.


Most likely but also possibly a collision....freighters hit things but sometimes don't stop as a family in 1995 found out.

From the LA Times..

Collision With Freighter Sank Family's Yacht

Coast Guard: Report holds South Korean ship responsible for accident killing Santa Clarita residents.

April 27, 1996|ALAN ABRAHAMSON | TIMES STAFF WRITER


In a report filled with vivid details of disaster on the high seas, the U.S. Coast Guard said Friday that a South Korean freighter was responsible for ramming and sinking a Santa Clarita family's yacht last fall in the South Pacific, killing two children and their father.

Concluding an investigation that also involved maritime safety experts in New Zealand and South Korean police, the Coast Guard said the 27,000-ton log carrying ship was the "proximate cause" of the sinking of the 47-foot Melinda Lee on Nov. 24 off New Zealand's North Island.


In stormy seas and in the middle of the night, the Coast Guard said in a report obtained by The Times, the Pan Grace apparently failed to detect the Melinda Lee on radar. Nevertheless, just before impact, crewmen aboard the massive freighter saw a red light off its starboard bow--a sign that another vessel was nearby.

But, the Coast Guard said, the freighter's officer of the watch failed to slow down and turn away from the Melinda Lee--steps he should have taken immediately under internationally recognized "rules of the road" at sea.

Killed were Michael Sleavin, 42, and his children Benjamin, 9, and Anna, 7. Judith Ann Sleavin, 41, the sole survivor, washed ashore after clinging to a dinghy for 42 hours. The family was en route from Tonga to New Zealand, one leg of an around-the-world sailing adventure.

Relatives of the family declined to comment Friday.

Investigators in South Korea, New Zealand and the U.S. have long suspected the Pan Grace in the accident.

Earlier this month, in fact, South Korean police said the freighter was at fault after finding that streaks of blue paint visible on the freighter's orange hull matched the blue paint on the yacht's fiberglass hull. They added, according to an Associated Press dispatch, that the watch officer that night--Second Mate Han Sang-Yoon, 26--faced possible criminal charges.

The Coast Guard report, however, provides the most complete record yet of the accident. It is based on photos, log books and weather reports as well as the results of inquires by New Zealand and South Korean investigators.

It also sets forth new details of the crash:

On a rainy night, the 14-ton Melinda Lee was plowing along under sail--its engine turned off--at 5 or 6 knots, bound for New Zealand's Bay of Islands.

The yacht was equipped with a three-color light on its mast, 50 to 60 feet above the water line. Another vessel nearing the Melinda Lee would see a red light if it were off the yacht's port--or left--side. The green light would show if the other vessel were to the starboard--or right--side. Both lights could be seen if approaching head-on. A white light would be visible only from behind the yacht.

Judith Sleavin had taken the watch, beginning at 1 a.m.; the others were sleeping. She had tuned her radio to Channel 16, an all-purpose marine frequency. The rudder was under the control of an automatic steering device.

Apparently because of the heavy weather, the Sleavins were not maintaining a lookout--which the Coast Guard recommends at all times but especially during a storm.

The Pan Grace--en route from Tauranga, New Zealand, to Inchon, South Korea--had a lookout on the bridge, the Coast Guard said. Under international rules, according to the Coast Guard, a proper lookout in heavy weather and traffic would include a crewman farther forward.