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Dumbest passage plan since the BOUNTY sailed straight into Sandy?

14471 Views 77 Replies 36 Participants Last post by downeast450, Apr 3, 2015

JonEisberg

Discussion Starter · Feb 15, 2015

These guys left Newport Friday afternoon on a 43 Nelson Marek they'd bought on eBay for $10K... They were headed for Bermuda, on what was to be the first leg of a trip to Oz, via the Cape of Good Hope and the Southern Ocean...

Here's what they were sailing straight into, as shown on Passageweather on Friday evening... Absolutely mind boggling, how any sane individual could have left with that forecast... The text forecast from NOAA is perhaps even more sobering, featuring "Hurricane force winds, heavy freezing spray, windspeeds to 65 knots, seas to 36 feet", and so on...

They called for Mommy early this morning... Seems somehow fitting, the Coasties plucked them out of the North Atlantic very close to the same spot that RAW FAITH went down... One has to wonder whether these guys, even now, have any clue how lucky they are to be alive...

Coast Guard Rescues Sailors 140 Miles off Nantucket - Western Massachusetts Breaking News and First Warning Weather with WGGB.com ABC 40

There's a thread over on CF that was started prior to their departure, with links to stories in the Newport paper about their prep...

Sailing New England to Australia in February - Cruisers & Sailing Forums

And, in related news, the CG plucked another crew off a trimiran last night, south of Cape Fear...

Those helo crews and rescue swimmers sure are getting plenty of practice lately, courtesy of us yachties...

Coast Guard rescues 4 from damaged sailboat off NC coast | WAVY-TV

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JonEisberg

Discussion Starter · #8 · Feb 15, 2015

Maine Sail said:
One word....... DELUSIONAL !

Or, how about... SUICIDAL ?

Great quip from some wag over on SA, sums it up quite neatly... Obviously, a hockey fan:

"And here's a wrist shot, from Darwin... NO, it's off the post !"

;-))

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JonEisberg

Discussion Starter · #13 · Feb 16, 2015

RTB said:
The OP just posted the rescue video on CF. The guys looked good. So did the boat. The dink was still on the foredeck....

Ralph

Looked to me like the leech of the main might have been blown out, lots of fluttering going on back there... Damn, I'd have thought the sails on a $10K 43' raceboat would have been bulletproof, no? ;-)

The younger guy didn't even have foul weather gear on his lower extremities... Yikes...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5LOWGhB5TY#t=11

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JonEisberg

Discussion Starter · #41 · Feb 17, 2015

miatapaul said:
Actually it may well have turned out much worse. They could have gotten out of helicopter range, and died waiting for a merchant marine ship to show up. I think they were very lucky to have bought such a bad condition boat.

Exactly... they were extremely fortunate to abort when and where they did...

Of all the unfathomable decisions made throughout the course of this misadventure, this has to be one of the most senseless:

After their sails were blown out and lowered, they started the engine, and proceeded under power...

IN THE SAME FREAKIN' DIRECTION, CONTINUING TOWARDS BERMUDA !!!

UFB...

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JonEisberg

Discussion Starter · #51 · Feb 20, 2015

Minnewaska said:
I'll vote for delusional.

But, I would put it in context. If you look at the X-games, freestyle motorcycle jumping for example, they are arguable delusional. Most people would not, or could not, do a full back flip on a running motorcycle, flying off a ramp, and ride away.

My point is that some people just seem to believe they are the exception to the rule and embolden themselves with one story of someone pulling off something extreme. What does it take to try to do a back flip with a motorcycle for the first time?

The problem with sailing in extreme weather is the increased need for actual skill and proper vessel, not just courage. Flipping that motorcycle is probably not as hard as it looks, albeit not easy. You need to have quite a bit of courage to do it. That same mentality problem causes people to have the (false) courage to set out in ridiculous conditions.

The major difference is that courage will not sail a boat in those conditions, like it may allow you to backflip a motorcycle. Actually, courage is more likely to get one in trouble sailing. That's a point I think can be driven home with better, perhaps mandatory, training. Love Med's idea to require a course to own/register an EPIRB.

This is pure speculation, of course, but I can't help but wonder whether there was a bit of this "stunt" aspect to the ill-fated passage that resulted in the loss of the Gunboat 55 RAINMAKER off Hatteras a few weeks ago, as well...

The owner tweeting upon their departure from Hatteras that "we'll see you soon" at the Extreme Tech Challenge in the islands, and so on... Not hard to imagine some folks might have seen a fast midwinter passage as a great marketing opportunity to demonstrate the capability of these "disruptive" boats... Needless to say, that didn't work out too well, in this instance...

With so much self-promotion surrounding this particular boat, that trip and their decision to sail into that weather has always struck me as having a tinge of "Here, hold my beer, and watch this..." to it...

;-))

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