Beneteau Oceanis 390 stability - HELP!!!

[Twister_Ken]

Lose/lose situation

Although the points raised in response to Stingo's post are all fine and dandy, this is an uncomfortable basic question which he poses, and I would rather it hadn't been asked.

It puts us in a binary situation. Yes, go. No, stay. If we say 'yes', and something dreadful happens we will feel we share some or all of the blame. If we say 'no', we are responsible for shattering Stingo's dream.

No matter what we say, and how many caveats we add to our advice we, and Stingo, are likely to end up as losers.

So if anyone else is contemplating something similar, please don't ask us the basic "Should I, shouldn't I?" question.

 

[nicho]

Re:Good Luck!

Andrew - a fantastic story and a great read. Most definitley not for me though! F7 in the Solent is quite enough thank you!!

I salute you.

Mike N.

 

[aod]

Re: Final Comment on Stingo\'s Instability!!!

That was a bit below the belt the mast came down after only five years through metal fatigue at D2 T bar because the boat is sailed a lot which is a phenomena you wouldn't know about. When the rudder came off it was ripped off by a static submerged 50 gallon oil drum at 12 knots boat speed which is another phenomena you wouldn't know about.

As for pulling more babes.......well!

The fundamental problem with your boat is that sitting at midnight with the oil lamp on having consumed four bottles of wine they all look like Venus.

During the night your boat goes through a time warp to another planet and when you wake up they all look like aliens.

I am not saying that the women you pull are ugly but when in the morning they swagger down the pontoon dragging their knuckles along the wood, they leave graze marks.

I must say the saddest tale was when I saw you with a fantastic looking babe but you had expended so much energy blowing her up that you were too tired to do anything and she floated off in the breeze.

Still never mind you can't be lucky in everything

 

[Stingo]

Re: Final Comment on Stingo\'s Instability!!!

You've obviously forgotten how much time your tub spent on the hard at Camper & Nicholson during the height of last season. So who really did do more sailing then?

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.stingo.co.uk>http://www.stingo.co.uk</A> - now showing at a computer near you

 

[aod]

Re: Final Comment on Stingo\'s Instability!!!

I did on other peoples boats and you didn't manage to sever the organic attachment your tubs formed with the pontoon.

 

[Strathglass]

Re: Lose/lose situation

Not so sure about that. We can only give our opinions. The final decision lies with Stingo.

It is an indisputable fact that his craft may not be the most stable of vesels to carry out his intended journey. But there are many yachts less suitable.
But that is the yacht which Stingo has and he feels that he is ready for the adventure.
It is really up to Stingo. We can give our opinions but we do not make the ultimate decision so we do not have to carry any feeling of guilt.
Let us hope that the PC brigade will not, some time in the future, will not be able to prevent such an adventure taking place.

Life is full of compromises, opportunities and decisions.
Everyone through their life selects their own balance between risk and enjoyment because everyone is different.

I am being forced into a similar situation as Stingo but this has been caused by leglislation.
I am almost finished fitting out a yacht hull for myself after several years work and expence. Yet when it is launched I am not allowed to pass it on to anyone else for 5 years (unless I make it fully € compliant)

So for the first five years after she is launched I intend to sail her whenever and wherever I wish irrespective of whether others feel she is not up to the task. The decision is up to myself.

 

[NigeCh]

And my balls fell off too

It's going out there and doing it that counts. When my legs gave up from running down too many mountains I took to the seas. I asked no questions, went out there and did my own thing.

When someone asks then they have doubts on their own abilities. When someone asks then that's a negative that shows that they are questioning their capability of achieveing their dreams.

Tania Aebie was sent. Brian Caldwell just set off.

The difference between thinking about it and doing it is simply loosing the strop and sailing the horizons.

If I can do it and still come back then so can everyone else.

 

[Stingo]

Re: And my balls fell off too

<<When someone asks then they have doubts on their own abilities>>
Or they're looking for advice from others with more experienced than themselves so that they don't repeat history. Pity our politicians can't learn from history.

My original thread wasn't about stability but got sidetracked onto the subject. I already had my doubts about my boats stability and that thread brought about the Ocean Madam incident. If Ocean Madam had been anything but an Oceanis 390, that thread would never have got going. I now firmly believe that that unfortunate incident can be put down to poor seamanship - i.e. nothing to do with the boat. I wanted to know more about that incident just in case there was a major design fault with the Oceanis 390 that I didn't know about. Now I know there isn't one and so do all the rest of the good folk on this forum.

Nuff said


<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.stingo.co.uk>http://www.stingo.co.uk</A> - now showing at a computer near you

 

[Mirelle]

Umm...

I don't see how you arrive at that conclusion from a reading of the report.

Do please explain; to me it says no such thing, but states that, "..... the yacht was knocked down twice by breaking waves"....."The yacht is not designed for crossing oceans in bad weather"......"the skipper's over-optimism about the ability of Ocean Madam to withstand heavy weather and breaking waves".....

The incident occurred in a forecast 7-8, maybe a 9. Not remarkably bad weather. Weather that quite a few of us have sailed through once or twice.

 

[Stingo]

Re: Umm...

Read the http://www.stingo.co.uk - now showing at a computer near you

 

[MagicalArmchair]

Re: Umm...

Read the http://www.stingo.co.uk - now showing at a computer near you

Arise zombie thread! We are looking at buying one of these boats - looking at your blog, since your original fears, you have been all over the world. Were any of the fears of forumites realised on your travels? Whats the worst weather you saw? Was there ever a moment where you thought the boat was not up to the job when you were in big seas?

 

[Stingo]

Re: Umm...

Arise zombie thread! We are looking at buying one of these boats - looking at your blog, since your original fears, you have been all over the world. Were any of the fears of forumites realised on your travels? Whats the worst weather you saw? Was there ever a moment where you thought the boat was not up to the job when you were in big seas?

I'd do it all again on the same boat.
Worst weather: being becalmed in Biscay and the doldrums.
Forumites fears: absolutely nothing.
Big seas: nothing to report - it's called the milk run for good reason.

Just go for it and enjoy yourself.

 

[MagicalArmchair]

Re: Umm...

Thanks Stingo! Looks quite the adventure. What was the worst weather you were caught out in?

 

[Stingo]

Re: Umm...

Thanks Stingo! Looks quite the adventure. What was the worst weather you were caught out in?

It's a long time ago now, but if memory serves me correctly, I don't think I ever had anything stronger than 35 knots, and I was on a broad reach, so it was wonderful sailing, with lots of surfing down waves.

 

[MagicalArmchair]

Re: Umm...

Cracking, thanks. We won't be doing any ocean passages, so I will chill the hell out. Lots of fair weather stuff and channel hopping.

 

[Stingo]

Re: Umm...

Wandering Star, of this forum bought Stingo from me in about 2006/7 and then her sailed her back across the Atlantic. He's a top bloke and has many, many more years of experience than I have. And he's done plenty of trans-ocean deliveries as skipper.
I know he replaced the keel bolts on Stingo. I'm sure he won't mind if you send him a PM asking for his objective view on the Oceanis 390 and things to look out for.

 

[MagicalArmchair]

Re: Umm...

Thanks, I'll PM him. We are looking for a 'forever boat', and the space on board means the crew will be happy (and the 1st mate!). Great she has done a transatlantic - gives me confidence, I'll contact Wandering Star directly for his views.

 

[KellysEye]

Since the Benetteau Oceanis is not designed for ocean sailing I wouln't do it and I certainly wouldn't add weight to the keel. Over Biscay we a gale gusting 50 knots that wasn't in the forecast, but we saw it coming wth the barometer falling. A Moody ran off towng drogues, a cat hove to and was nearly hit by a fishing boat and sadly a local fishing boat sank with the loss of all hands. We had a heavy displacement steel ketch and kept sailing.

 

[asteven221]

Accepting that the basic (unaltered) hull of the Oceanis is in itself not regarded as your ideal heavy weather yacht. Then add metal mast steps (which you have) add a stainless gantry (which you have) then add a radar reflector to the mast (which you have) add a radar and ariels to the gantry (which you have) add roller reefing (which the boat has) fit out the interior with radios and gizmos mounted at head height (which you have) add a bookshelf and massive CD storage rack at chest height (which you have) and what you end up with is a very significant amount of bad weight.

Add all that bad weight to a yacht with a dubious GZ curve and you end up with what you have. A dangerous combination. I have been telling you for a year that you would be wise to have an inclination test and a stability report but as far as I know you haven't yet done so.

To be brutaly honest if I were sailing on your boat I would have serious concerns about being rolled in the channel in a F6.

Are you seriously saying that the weight of a mast steps, radar reflector, radar antenna, vhf antenna, gantry, radios, bookshelf and CD's are going to make the boat dangerous and unstable? That lot probably doesn't amount to any more weight than one 16 stone adult. If that was the case then the boat would be not be fit for purpose, even if it was never allowed out the marina!

The Oceanis might not be designed as the perfect boat for sailing the Southern Ocean, but it's a hell of a lot better (and safer) than you seem to suggest. Neither can I see any significant issues for the boat in a F6.

 

[MagicalArmchair]

Hmm, checking Stingos blog, he went on to have many adventures safely in his Oceanis 390, after selling it to another forumite who then crossed the Atlantic, again, safely. In those conditions, 50 knots plus, you spoke about, I would certainly be running off towing drogues down below with a good book... I will certainly not be crossing the Bay of Biscay in the next couple of years.