Amel SM drifting in the Atlantic, one year later

[Roberto]

Yesterday a racing crew on an Imoca sailing back to France after the Jacques Vabre race has seen mid Atlantic an abandoned boat , a SuperMaramu, with no one onboard.

https://www.ouest-france.fr/sport/v...onvoyage-e24df944-55e4-11ec-86fd-0aa76b68b4bb

The inquisitive powers that be of the internet suggest that in all likelihood the boat is this one, still drifting after having been abandoned about one year ago
VIDEO: Sailboat Rescue 170 Miles Offshore | Chesapeake Bay Magazine

 

[kof]

Yep sure looks like the Bali Hai from Hatteras. Just shows you most crews “break” before the boat does.

plus this boats been breaking the collision regs - no watch keeping while at sea for over a year… any nothing bumped into it.

good advertisement for Amel though. Came through a winter in the North Atlantic with nobody looking after it.

 

[jordanbasset]

With all the boat must have gone through in the last year am surprised the dinghy and kayaks have stayed on board, superficially at least she appears in good condition

 

[Robih]

Crew lifted off because the engines died? Would the insurers pay out for a lost boat becase the engines stopped?

 

[kof]

With all the boat must have gone through in the last year am surprised the dinghy and kayaks have stayed on board, superficially at least she appears in good condition

solar panels are gone (they were already hanging off when the crew were picked off) and the main boom is gone. I assume that might have been swinging back and forth, the sheet parted and then it tore off at the gooseneck. Apart from that it looks good.

 

[Blueboatman]

That boat would be worth a punt if you happened to be er passing by like.
Just imagine : you sign on as crew to get a few miles on paper. And return to the uk as captain of an engineless, solid yacht !
What’s the import duty on a years worth of abandonment I wonder?

 

[Seven Spades]

getting a CA mark might be expensive

 

[penfold]

Difficult to comprehend abandoning a boat as well found as one of those in any conditions other than imminent sinking or conflagration.

 

[Minerva]

That boat would be worth a punt if you happened to be er passing by like.
Just imagine : you sign on as crew to get a few miles on paper. And return to the uk as captain of an engineless, solid yacht !
What’s the import duty on a years worth of abandonment I wonder?

I'd be happy to pay 20% VAT on the cost of the wreck for bringing into the UK. Assuming we can offset any market value against the cost of recovery. I.e negative tax rate?

Would be nice to get a free Super Maramu!

 

[Porthandbuoy]

I always thought the thing to do when abandoning ship where recovery was not an option was to scuttle it. Just remove a few hoses from the seacocks.

 

[zoidberg]

What would YOU do if you encountered one like that?

 

[Bajansailor]

Watching the (rather grainy) video, it looks like the crew had to jump into the sea in order to be rescued by the chap lowered from the helicopter.
No thanks - I would prefer to stay with the boat.
What does it matter if they have no power?
Surely they could have just hove to, and waited for the weather to settle down a bit?
There again, it is possible that the sails are all electric furling (?) - but in the video there appears to be a scrap of genoa out, yet in the photos a year later the genoa is neatly furled.
I am guessing that they were probably on passage to Bermuda - or directly south to the Caribbean (?)
@Roberto do they say in the French article where the IMOCA crew found the Amel yacht?

 

[Roberto]

Watching the (rather grainy) video, it looks like the crew had to jump into the sea in order to be rescued by the chap lowered from the helicopter.
No thanks - I would prefer to stay with the boat.
What does it matter if they have no power?
Surely they could have just hove to, and waited for the weather to settle down a bit?
There again, it is possible that the sails are all electric furling (?) - but in the video there appears to be a scrap of genoa out, yet in the photos a year later the genoa is neatly furled.
I am guessing that they were probably on passage to Bermuda - or directly south to the Caribbean (?)
@Roberto do they say in the French article where the IMOCA crew found the Amel yacht?

Hello Martin,
in this article taken from Le Telegramme (Brest newspaper, under subscription)
Voile. Un ketch, sans aucune trace de vie, repéré par un Imoca au milieu de l’Atlantique

they say
31-23.4N. 48-08.05W
regards r.

 

[Minerva]

There again, it is possible that the sails are all electric furling (?) - but in the video there appears to be a scrap of genoa out,

Watching Delos which is the same boat, I think the sails are all electric furling and with electric winches to boot. That said Delos have used the furling systems manually when the motors have packed in - they have winch handle sockets on them.

I guess a new inexperienced owner and crew who got scared when their boat broke down (with no gps) and so called for an evacuation.

On the face of it though. It sounds like they could of continued to make landfall. Presumably they could of just sailedwest ‘till they hit America and then used paper charts to make their way into harbour.

easy to say from the comfort of this armchair though

 

[Neeves]

I agree with Minerva

If you are the skipper and thus totally responsible for the crew - their life in your hands - what would you do? You have no ability to produce electrics - the crew are not experienced (and are delilabated through sea sickness.......)

Tough call.

If I was on the Imoca - depends on the conditions and location during the sighting - but I would have tried to board to see if there was anyone, alive - seems callous and lacking in courtesy of the sea to ignore the yacht. If the delivery crew of the Imoca had sufficient skills I would try to effect a salvage. However delivery crew of tender large yachts can be pretty minimalist ...... and I'm near finishing a bottle of red.

Jonathan

 

[Bajansailor]

Hello Martin,
in this article taken from Le Telegramme (Brest newspaper, under subscription)
Voile. Un ketch, sans aucune trace de vie, repéré par un Imoca au milieu de l’Atlantique

they say
31-23.4N. 48-08.05W
regards r.

Thanks for this Roberto - she really did not travel very far relatively in a year, considering that she should have had the Gulf Stream helping to push her eastwards (?).
I would have thought that she would have easily reached Europe in that time frame, but maybe she got caught in an eddy and went around in circles for a while?

 

[kof]

I don’t believe there was any problem with the furlers. They appeared to be furled properly after the rescue crew arrived plus the amel has a genset which can be used even if the house batteries are dead. Then you also have the manual option of sticking a winch handle in the furler and winding it in.

my suspicion is that they just wanted off, that the conditions were too much for them, exhausted , whatever. Would not be my choice but I’m saying that from a nice comfortable chair.

Watching the (rather grainy) video, it looks like the crew had to jump into the sea in order to be rescued by the chap lowered from the helicopter.
No thanks - I would prefer to stay with the boat.
What does it matter if they have no power?
Surely they could have just hove to, and waited for the weather to settle down a bit?
There again, it is possible that the sails are all electric furling (?) - but in the video there appears to be a scrap of genoa out, yet in the photos a year later the genoa is neatly furled.
I am guessing that they were probably on passage to Bermuda - or directly south to the Caribbean (?)
@Roberto do they say in the French article where the IMOCA crew found the Amel yacht?