Clyde Challenger no more.

Attempt to construct a jury rig. A lot of assumptions around that small sentence though. I would not hesitate to call for assistance though.
 
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"... the temporary rudder ..."

Skipper on the yacht in live interview repeated several times that the rudder was fine and the only damage was the mast.

Whom to believe eh ....... Skipper or t'interweb? :encouragement:

Richard
 
Skipper on the yacht in live interview repeated several times that the rudder was fine and the only damage was the mast.

Whom to believe eh ....... Skipper or t'interweb? :encouragement:

"t'interweb" in this case being "the facebook page of the organisation which owned and ran the boat". Tricky one.

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Got a link to the interview?
 
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What would others who post on this forum have done if their own cruising yacht was dismasted in that location? Attempt to construct a jury rig or ask for assistance?

Do both, in their situation. Report the facts. Make some sort of jury rig.
It would be relatively uncomfortable , so as much as I would like to say I would stick it out till I made landfall and could easily accept a tow, I suspect that after what they had been through, if offered I would take to offers of a trip on a navy ship.
 
They only interviewed him a couple of hours ago but I'm sure it will on the BBC website in due course.

Most odd. Perhaps they had steering problem, thought the rudder was lost or unusable but later discovered that it was something like the backstay jamming it and managed to get it freed off again. I presume that "knackered old racing boat loses mast, all crew rescued safely" is not the sort of thing which tickles the fancy of the MAIB, in which case we may never know what happened.

PS Sorry about the snarky "supposed interview". That was quite unnecessarily rude of me, and I have edited it.
 
You have to wonder if February is a good time for 'mid-life-crisis tourists' to be in the North atlantic in a boat?
Due credit to the Navy.
 
Most odd.

According to HM Coastguard

The 13 British crew and one US national whose 60ft yacht, the ‘Clyde Challenger’, sent an emergency beacon alert, which was picked up by the UK Coastguard at 8.00 pm on Thursday evening, have been rescued. All are safe and well, having been rescued by a sea boat off of HMS Dragon this afternoon. The vessel was about 400 nautical miles west-south-west of Cape Finisterre when it became dis-masted and lost its rudder due to bad weather.

http://hmcoastguard.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/yacht-crew-rescued-following.html
 
The Challenge yachts do have engines, with reasonable range if tanks are OK.
I know little about them but I did ask what others would do if their own cruising yachts were dismasted.

I think I'd be very reluctant to abandon the yacht I have devoted so much of my time to during 20 years of owning her but if I was not alone, and had someone else to consider, it would be hard to insist on making what might be a futile attempt to salvage her if help was at hand.
 
I know little about them but I did ask what others would do if their own cruising yachts were dismasted.

I think I'd be very reluctant to abandon the yacht I have devoted so much of my time to during 20 years of owning her but if I was not alone, and had someone else to consider, it would be hard to insist on making what might be a futile attempt to salvage her if help was at hand.

I haven't plotted any of the reported positions, but there's mention of the incident area being in the region of 400NM off Finistere. So with a fully bunkered range of 500NM at best economy, if I dropped the rig where they were, I'd hope to make a landfall under motor. The sea state would make it touch and go range wise in conditions similar to those prevailing in this case though, and the steering issues another matter again.
 
Well done to all all those who responded to the rescue mission, and glad everyone safe at the end of the day no matter what the reason for the loss of the mast. A happy ending albeit the loss of the boat which can be replaced. I'm sure there's 14 families very grateful to the RN.

+1. Good Job by the Navy & Coastguard. All's well that ends well. 14 happy families.
 
It looked to be built like a brick outhouse when I had a look round her last season. The rigging was substantial. Everything looked chunky. The watertight doors looked the business. I would feel safe on such a boat but they do seem to move about in conditions where I would stay put. Glad everyone got away safe and well done to the RN.
 
It looked to be built like a brick outhouse when I had a look round her last season. The rigging was substantial. Everything looked chunky. The watertight doors looked the business. I would feel safe on such a boat but they do seem to move about in conditions where I would stay put. Glad everyone got away safe and well done to the RN.

A certain leisure yacht that sunk mid Atlantic also looked acceptable. I know what you mean but looks can be very deceiving. Lots of good looking things fail and the investigation reveals a multitude of issues that combined to realise an incident.

Be very aware of old, well used things, especially if there is no evidence of an expensive inspection, maintenance and replacement programme.

This is not a statement or assertion on the safety management or technical fitness of Clyde Challenger or the organisation that runs and owns the boat.
 
You have to wonder if February is a good time for 'mid-life-crisis tourists' to be in the North atlantic in a boat?

Very fair comment & one must ask whether a company should actually be running such trips at that time of the year in that part of the world.
If a life had been lost would the directors be hauled before the courts in the same way as ( for instance)in the case of the boat with a lost keel? (not mentioning specific names to avoid upsetting mods)
Will the MIAB take the organisation of such trips into consideration when making their inquiries or will that be beyond their remit
 
You have to wonder if February is a good time for 'mid-life-crisis tourists' to be in the North atlantic in a boat?
Due credit to the Navy.

My thoughts exactly. Everyone knows that May-Sept is the time to be in that part of the Atlantic, and going this time of year is just asking for trouble.

Is this yet another example of a charter company putting paying customers in danger for money, and a paid skipper making a bad decision due to pressure from his employer?
 
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