[CharlieCobra]

Taken from a post on SA:

Sunday 16th November 12:38 pm Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre received a call from the U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area Command Centre advising the 48 foot S/V PANACHE was in distress and requesting evacuation of the crew. The PANACHE was about 180 miles west-northwest of Bermuda and suffered mechanical rigging problems encountering severe weather conditions with 5 persons onboard, including a 4 year old child. The U.S. Coast Guard elected to evacuate the crew using a Helicopter which completed the winch operation at 5:50 pm and landed safely at Bermuda at 7:00 pm. The crew of PANACHE required no hospital treatment and were resting after their evacuation and safe arrival at Bermuda.

This boat had been actively looking for crew on another cruising forum.

 

[camaraderie]

And...from the USCG:
PORTSMOUTH, Va. - A Coast Guard helicopter crew hoisted four adults and one 4-year-old girl to safety Sunday afternoon 175 nautical miles west-northwest of Bermuda after their sailboat became disabled.
The sailors aboard the 47-foot sailboat, Panache, lost steering and propulsion while transiting to St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, from Annapolis, Md., and contacted the Coast Guard via satallite phone requesting assistance. An HC-130J Hercules aircraft crew from Elizabeth City, N.C., marked the position of the sailboat and vectored the Elizabeth City MH-60J Jayhawk helicopter in. After being hoisted to safety the five people were taken to Bermuda.
During the hoist, the winds were more than 30 knots and the seas were 15 feet.
The Jayhawk crew was able to complete the rescue with the assistance of watchstanders at the Rescue Coordination Center in Portsmouth, the Hercules aircraft crew providing on scene communications, and the Coast Guard Cutter Legare who will provide fuel for the helicopter to return Monday afternoon.

 

[CharlieCobra]

Lost propulsion? It seems they would have plenty of propulsion at 30 knots of breeze. Steering, that might be a problem...

 

[TSOJOURNER]

Tragic end to a beautiful boat--- Check the maintenance log for your rigging and steering cables!

 

[bubb2]

Lost propulsion? It seems they would have plenty of propulsion at 30 knots of breeze. Steering, that might be a problem...

When we get the reports, They are not written by sailors.

A 4 year kid on board, I would have made the call also!

Wel done!! CG

 

[GeorgeB]

Equally as important is if you have a cable type rudder stop that it is adjusted to be shorter than full rudder play as that cable will stretch when there is a lot of force put on the rudder. Better still, convert your cable to a mechanical type stop altogether.

 

[chucklesR]

Even catamaran sailors know you need to plan and have a backup method of steering the boat (like using the sails, even).

 

[sailingdog]

Anyone looking for a slightly used Bavaria 47???

 

[tomaz_423]

Congratulations Dog. You found it already.
I will buy a fast multi hull as well.
How about you keep the Bavaria and sell me the Telstar?

 

[T34C]

Congratulations Dog. You found it already.
I will buy a fast multi hull as well.
How about you keep the Bavaria and sell me the Telstar?

Sorry, I heard CD- had already asked for it. He needed a new dock.

 

[Idiens]

He can hang a lot of BBQs on a 47 ft boat.

 

[sailingdog]

I'm donating it to CD... with better boat than his dockolina, he might actually learn to sail.

 

[T34C]

He can hang a lot of BBQs on a 47 ft boat.

I was thinking the Telstar, not the Bavaria. The extra floats will make for a better dock anyway.

I know dog-, "but its fast..."

 

[camaraderie]

Hey ...here is another with a rudder loss today. Somehow I doubt they were 350mi east of cape cod if they left from Portsmouth VA...more like NH!! How many more rudder losses are we gonna have this year!!??
Anyway...check the link for a good picture:

ATLANTIC OCEAN - The Boston-based Coast Guard cutter Spencer assisted two French sailors Thursday about 350 miles east of Cape Cod, Mass., after their sailboat was disabled.
Frank Salaun and Isabelle Hoareau were sailing from Portsmouth, Va., to the Azores, near Portugal, when the rudder on their 38-foot Reina del Sol was reportedly sheared off Wednesday.
At the time, the closest help was a Navy vessel, the USS Gonzalez, who took the couple aboard for the night until the Coast Guard Spencer arrived Thursday around 7:30 a.m. The Navy transferred the two sailors, both uninjured, to the Spencer, and took the Reina del Sol in tow.
The Spencer is scheduled to transfer the passengers and tow to the Canadian Coast Guard, near Nova Scotia, late Friday.
“The Reina del Sol is the couple’s home,” said Capt. Daniel McLaughlin, commanding officer of the Spencer. “They were very grateful that we’d be taking them and their boat safely to Nova Scotia for repairs.”


Pix here: Flickr Photo Download: U.S. Coast Guard and Navy crews combine efforts for offshore rescue

 

[btrayfors]

Bizarre.

BTW, the Reina del Sol may be an American boat, owned by a guy from Carrollton, VA. Here's the scoop:

Vessel Name: REINA DEL SOL USCG Doc. No.: 543023
Vessel Service: RECREATIONAL IMO Number: *
Trade Indicator: Recreational Call Sign: WYT6475
Hull Material: FRP (FIBERGLASS) Hull Number: *
Ship Builder: SEASIDE SEVEN Year Built: 1972
Length (ft.): 38.2
Hailing Port: NORFOLK VA Hull Depth (ft.): 5.3
Owner: CHRISTOPHER J JACOBSEN
13200 EAGLE LAKE COURT
CARROLLTON, VA 23314 Hull Breadth (ft.): 9.9
Gross Tonnage: 10
Net Tonnage: 9
Documentation Issuance Date: February 08, 2008 Documentation Expiration Date: February 28, 2009
Previous Vessel Names: JOINT VENTURE CHRISTIAN B C
Previous Vessel Owners: JAMES M REYNOLDS JR. EDMUND BRIAN TOKARZ

 

[camaraderie]

Interesting Bill...wonder if it was just sold.

"How about another from a few days ago!
A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter rescued four people from a yacht from New Brunswick in the Atlantic Ocean off Bermuda Thursday morning.
The yacht Magique had lost its rudder early Wednesday
A liquefied natural gas tanker was diverted to try to pick up the sailors, but the waters were too rough.
Tom Ogg, a duty officer with the Bermuda Rescue Co-ordination Centre, said the U.S. Coast Guard picked up the crew at 8:30 a.m.
"They were taken off in a helicopter … and the vessel was abandoned at sea," said Ogg.
Ogg said the four sailors have been brought to Bermuda and are all well.
The authorities have not identified the people on board.
The Magique is registered at the Rothesay Yacht Club in the town east of Saint John, with Brian Cullinan as its skipper."




A bit of research shows this one as a C&C 44.

The Bermuda Triangle eats rudders!!

 

[btrayfors]

This is truly getting scary! Three yachts, 38' to 47' LOA, all lost their rudders within days of one another in the waters NW of Bermuda.

You suppose there's a diabolical rudder-eating fish out there somewhere?

 

[billyruffn]

Lost propulsion? It seems they would have plenty of propulsion at 30 knots of breeze. Steering, that might be a problem...

When you lose steering in a sail boat, you lose propulsion as well unless you can balance the rig perfectly on the course you want to steer, which is a little hard in 30 kts with a sea running. I think the CG wrote it up correctly.

 

[billyruffn]

This is truly getting scary! Three yachts, 38' to 47' LOA, all lost their rudders within days of one another in the waters NW of Bermuda.

You suppose there's a diabolical rudder-eating fish out there somewhere?

I seem to remember that in years past yachts in the Caribbean 1500 rally often have rudder problems. My guess is that it's a lot of these boats are probably on their first real offshore passage and that years of neglect of the rudder / steering gear catches up with them when the boat starts getting tossed about a bit, as it can in a Gulf Stream crossing.

 

[sailingdog]

Apparently, the rudder eating fish have catch limits... boats smaller than 35' are probably thrown back...and they're too small to eat rudders on boats 50' and larger.

This is truly getting scary! Three yachts, 38' to 47' LOA, all lost their rudders within days of one another in the waters NW of Bermuda.

You suppose there's a diabolical rudder-eating fish out there somewhere?