Drag devices

[DeeGee]

Re-read a book 'Rescue in the Pacific' by Tony Farrington, last night.

It tends to reinforce the conclusion that any effective drag device deployed correctly, will alleviate matters, but also that nothing is effective in the final analysis when a certain level of sea-conditions and wind is reached. Accounts of 100ft waves coming up from behind or ahead and just completely wiping a boat out.

This post was not placed to start another this way-that way argument, but to advertise a really stunning account of 'Disaster and Survival in a Force 12 Storm'.


<hr width=100% size=1>Black Sugar - the sweetest of all

 

[MainlySteam]

DeeGee, a pleasant chance to get the boxing gloves off! I agree (sigh!) an excellent read.

There was also a very good TV program on the rescues, with a lot of live footage, which I think used to be around on tape for sale too. It is a long time since I read any of the books on the storm but I don't think anything was said in them about the following which are matters I have tucked away in case I end up in similar circumstances. A yacht designer I know well knew the vessel which was lost with its crew, and others that I know knew the skipper (and perhaps enough time has passed for me to repeat their comments, given the interest that Jimi's adventure has properly raised on the forum).

The understanding I was given about the boat was that because of its wide and not very strongly supported cabin top would likely not have survived a crashing wave of any sort and so was perhaps destined not to survive. I think it was after that that NZ bought in its mandatory inspections for departing yachts. Interestingly, and perhaps with the book you could comment, I think most of the abandoned boats were later found, except for the cat "Heartlight" that was deliberately scuttled and the one that was lost with the crew.

With respect to the crew, the information I was told by a number of people was that the skipper (although very well known in the yachting community) was not one of the type to be able to stand up under pressure and had confidence issues. This may have been a little visible in the book and perhaps you could comment, because I seem to recall that they at one stage were radioing some matter about needing to shorten sail but could not bring themselves to face the outside conditions - a decision that may have added to their fate.

Some time after the event (a couple of years from memory) there was some investigation into why many other boats survived - in fact a number of boats in the same area had wondered why it had been so disasterous and suffered no damage at all. There seems to be two schools of thought, one being that some of the effects were very localised and the other that matters of attitude came into it. Two years after the storm I was lucky enough to meet with a delivery skipper who was in the centre of the storm (he said they were close to the crew that was lost - 50 miles I seem to recall - and while they could hear the difficulties they were in on the radio and that the crew was not handling it psychologically, they had no hope of getting to them). His comments were along the lines that the conditions were bad, but perfectly survivable and they themselves had no real problems out of the ordinary and no damage. I cannot recall the vessel type he was delivering but seem to recall it was a common Beneteau or similar charter yacht being relocated into the Pacific Islands for our winter season.

As you say, these books, like "Fastnet Force 10" are an excellent read (and the video too) and with the ability as yachtsmen to filter out the "embellishments" give a good insight into what it may be like. Better stop - just about written a book here too, but maybe the comments are useful to the forum.

John

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[ccscott49]

Well written! Interesting stuff, storm survival should be! I think more emphasis should be put on this subject for YM qualifications. In fact I do believe there should be a course in it, for commercial endorsement.

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[Rabbie]

Satori - \'Perfect Storm\' true rescue narrative ...

.... http://world.std.com/~kent/satori/Narrative.html

<hr width=100% size=1>The line between balls and lunacy is very thin.

 

[DeeGee]

Re: Satori - \'Perfect Storm\' true rescue narrative ...

Yes, I remember the controversy surrounding Satori - the crew alleging that he was drunk and useless, and he alleging that they behaved like hysterical females. I know who had my vote!!

Rescue in the Pacific seemed to me to be more of a sailor's book - with different strands following different boats. The imagination doesn't need to provide much when the text (paraphrasing) describes one wave going by and then, when in the trough, the next 100ft-er coming up from behind and breaking onto the boat!


<hr width=100% size=1>Black Sugar - the sweetest of all

 

[AndrewB]

"The next 100ft-er ..."

They come in sets??

If that hasn't taken much imagination on your part, it has on somebody's! [<A target="_blank" HREF=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2450407.stm>FREAK WAVES</A>].

PS Hear of any more, give me a call, I'll get my board waxed.

 

[mickshep]

Re: Satori - \'Perfect Storm\' true rescue narrative ...

For them as is interested, You can read the account as posted by the man himself on one of the Westsail 32 links, (this being the class of vessel concerned) deals with the storm, his tactics and his account of the rescue as well as the subsequent recovery of his practically undamaged boat, It makes very interesting reading. Cheers, Mike.

<hr width=100% size=1>"Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get me."

 

[DeeGee]

Re: \"The next 100ft-er ...\"

Ah, you have me there, I meant the next wave was a 100ft-er, what the previous had been one can only guess...

HOWEVER 1 ... remember this was F12, which has no upper limit, and waves OVER 45ft, not 'up to'....F12 starts at 64kts and now for a few quotes from the preface....'An experienced merchant captain estimated that some waves were 100ft high'... 'NZAirForce reported surface winds at 70-80kts. Their aircraft flew as low as 200ft.. they <font color=red>recorded</font color=red> waves 100ft high.' ...'The Orion P3 aircraft in the area were fitted with equipment that could accurately measure surface conditions.'

HOWEVER 2 ...whether the waves were 70, 80, 90 or 100, the meaning is the same, sliding down into the trough and then having a breaking wave of that height come down on you... the mind boggles. And to imagine Andrew sitting at the top of the thing, madly waving his bottle of NB boggles even more.

<hr width=100% size=1>Black Sugar - the sweetest of all

 

[MainlySteam]

Re: "The next 100ft-er ..."

The TV documentary on the rescues (which was actually played again here in recent years) was very interesting because there was alot of live video taken from the RNZAF Orions that DeeGee mentions, and also from the RNZN hydrographic ship and the fishing boat that performed rescues (the fishing boat did Heartlight and then ran it down as the owners believed they were part of some grand alien plan or something such!). Cannot remember if any video from the big merchant vessel that DeeGee mentions whose master commented on the wave heights and also did a rescue.

Is very hard to tell from video the heights of waves and one did not know if conditions had moderated much but I had the feeling that the ships were having a harder go of the waves than the yachts - from the point of view unusual antics that is. The waves appeared to be very high but not breaking (not like in the video from the Sydney Hobart where there were long sweeping breaking crests in which any small boat was obviously going to be at great risk if caught by one). I remember when the 2 crew that was rescued by the naval ship were about to be taken off wondering why they were getting off the boat (they had no problem walking around on the deck, for example) - looked much more dangerous getting off than staying on, and I think that was one the yachts found again later and salvaged. However, those judgements are very easy from the comfort of an armchair.

The bomb type depressions are quite common in that area between here and the Pacific Islands and there are always yachts enroute. I find that in many discussions about the disaster that there always seems to be an undertone of that it just happened this time there were more of the wrong boats and the wrong people in the area at the time (for example, the crew of Heartlight professed in video interviews to have never hand steered the yacht in the open sea before - always on autopilot - and when forced to resort to it didn't really know how!).

John

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