Ric
Well-Known Member
French telly reporting that a 13m French catamaran sank in bad weather off Mediterranean coast off Morocco this morning. Four dead, one missing.
13m catamaran sinks in Med
- Thread starter Ric
- Start date
rivonia
Well-Known Member
Any more news. Any way we can look this up via lap top?
Peter
Peter
Ric
Well-Known Member
http://www.france24.com/fr/20121113...aran-maroc-voilier-mauvaises-conditions-meteo
There are loads of links if you google something like "naufrage meurtrier maroc". They all say much the same - boat lost in heavy seas in southern med. 13m cat, equipped for along cruise around Atlantic and South America. Left marseille a month ago.
There are loads of links if you google something like "naufrage meurtrier maroc". They all say much the same - boat lost in heavy seas in southern med. 13m cat, equipped for along cruise around Atlantic and South America. Left marseille a month ago.
rivonia
Well-Known Member
Ric
Well-Known Member
I've been reading one of the French forums. This is the boat:
http://www.dolink.fr/node/688170/lightbox2
It was an owner skipper with paying crew.
http://www.dolink.fr/node/688170/lightbox2
It was an owner skipper with paying crew.
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capnsensible
Well-Known Member
Am I right in thinking it was somewhere near the Algerian/Maroc border?
Looks like a Fontain Pajot from the picture?
Sailed one of those across the Atlantic once, also bit bumpy. Eeek.
Very sad for the families, sympathies.
Looks like a Fontain Pajot from the picture?
Sailed one of those across the Atlantic once, also bit bumpy. Eeek.
Very sad for the families, sympathies.
SailorBill
Well-Known Member
From the link in the post above it's a Belize 43 called "Love Love".
phantomlady
Well-Known Member
I think you will find it is the atlantic coast, not mediterranean.
Hoolie
Well-Known Member
Not if you read the linked news report. It was close to the border with Algeria - in the Med. Very sad though, wherever it was.
oldbilbo
...
Everything that floats, flies or fux can be turned upside down by someone with insufficient 'nous'. Neither a catamaran, nor a trimaran, nor a monomaran is guaranteed to turn the right way up again without intervention.
The guy driving needs to know, and stay within, the envelope.
When you drive a Porsche hard on a windey country road, you expect and get extra performance and grip. You use that 'extra''. Eventually, eventually, it lets go. No-one is surprised if you then end upside-down in a field.
The guy driving needs to know, and stay within, the envelope.
When you drive a Porsche hard on a windey country road, you expect and get extra performance and grip. You use that 'extra''. Eventually, eventually, it lets go. No-one is surprised if you then end upside-down in a field.
Perry
Well-Known Member
Everything that floats, flies or fux can be turned upside down by someone with insufficient 'nous'. Neither a catamaran, nor a trimaran, nor a monomaran is guaranteed to turn the right way up again without intervention.
The guy driving needs to know, and stay within, the envelope.
When you drive a Porsche hard on a windey country road, you expect and get extra performance and grip. You use that 'extra''. Eventually, eventually, it lets go. No-one is surprised if you then end upside-down in a field.
Lifted a hull on a 38' FP Athena once in Falmouth Harbour soon learnt to reef down a bit earlier.
MASH
N/A
Neither a catamaran, nor a trimaran, nor a monomaran is guaranteed to turn the right way up again without intervention.
Well - no...but at least a monomaran has every opportunity to do so whereas the others are "guaranteed" not to.
Anyway, a boat that plug-ugly only floats because the seabed repels it...
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rivonia
Well-Known Member
How unkind and niggly!!
Ric
Well-Known Member
This is an accident report into another French catamaran of about the same size that capsized off Cap Creus in the Med in 2006 (again with 6 dead). The conditions were only sea state 4, 30 knots of wind, gusting.
http://www.beamer-france.org/BanqueDocument/pdf_118.pdf
An interesting observation is that a contributing factor was that the owner had considerably strengthened the standing rigging, and that this had lead to the boat capsizing rather than just losing the mast in a gust! Certainly an interesting take on Catamaran seaworthiness...
http://www.beamer-france.org/BanqueDocument/pdf_118.pdf
An interesting observation is that a contributing factor was that the owner had considerably strengthened the standing rigging, and that this had lead to the boat capsizing rather than just losing the mast in a gust! Certainly an interesting take on Catamaran seaworthiness...
MASH
N/A
Rivonia, my point was the self righting ability, the other remark was very clearly tongue in cheek though how a barge with a pillbox on top could be considered aesthetically pleasing is quite beyond me.
Don't misunderstand me - some multis are sex-on-the-water, but not that grotesque monolithic modern cruising style. They say "if it looks right..." and that one just looks wrong wrong wrong.
Don't misunderstand me - some multis are sex-on-the-water, but not that grotesque monolithic modern cruising style. They say "if it looks right..." and that one just looks wrong wrong wrong.
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BurnitBlue
Well-Known Member
I sailed a catamaran for five years on both sides of the Atlantic and the bit inbetween.
In my opinion the greatest danger to sailing a cat is for the helm to act by instinct and luff up in a gust when the windward hull starts to lift. Centrafugal force will complete the lift and over she goes. It definitely goes counter intuitive to do the correct thing which is to bear off downwind.
Secondly, a pitchpole incident is made worse than in a monohull because the cat does not have a three ton ballast keel to hold the stern down. Also once the pitchpole starts, the under deck windage assists the tripping effect and up and over she goes.
In my opinion the greatest danger to sailing a cat is for the helm to act by instinct and luff up in a gust when the windward hull starts to lift. Centrafugal force will complete the lift and over she goes. It definitely goes counter intuitive to do the correct thing which is to bear off downwind.
Secondly, a pitchpole incident is made worse than in a monohull because the cat does not have a three ton ballast keel to hold the stern down. Also once the pitchpole starts, the under deck windage assists the tripping effect and up and over she goes.
SeamanStaines
Well-Known Member
Shall we wait until we find out what happened, rather than starting a debate on the benefits/disadvantages of Catamarans?
BurnitBlue
Well-Known Member
Why? We can use the dozens of previous examples as a basis for discussion.
If we had to wait for a current incident to be explained we would never be able to start an argument. So lets get on with it.
tri39
Well-Known Member
If sadly there are no survivors we may never find out what happened!!
My experience is to luff up when sailing to windward and to bear away when off the wind.
However a reefed heavy cruising cat should be very difficult to sail over.
Bad weather on the north African coast raises very big seas apparently and that may well be the main reason for the inversion. Still surprising that no-one could survive on the inverted platform, perhaps breaking seas just washed them off?! November is not a good month in the Med.
My experience is to luff up when sailing to windward and to bear away when off the wind.
However a reefed heavy cruising cat should be very difficult to sail over.
Bad weather on the north African coast raises very big seas apparently and that may well be the main reason for the inversion. Still surprising that no-one could survive on the inverted platform, perhaps breaking seas just washed them off?! November is not a good month in the Med.
laffinskip
Well-Known Member
13 m cat
neither are december/january/february/& march--april can be dodgy too.
neither are december/january/february/& march--april can be dodgy too.
