Earthrace bites the dust

[earthrace1]

We just followed the route specified by UIM. Having driven Earthrace in the Southern Ocean below New Zealand in 40ft seas, and a number of storms elsewhere around the globe, they are all scary. Probably the worst seas I've experienced was off the US East Coast (Cape Hatteras), but the waves were not even 20ft high. Yet they were extremely difficult to negotiate.

The powerboat and sailing records to circumnavigae the globe just have very different challenges. With sailing, just maintain a mast and sail and you'll get home. With powerboats you have a much more complex drivetrain to maintain.

The canals are dangerous for small boats. One record attempt failed a number of years ago after being smacked up in the Panama. We go through waterways full of logs and deadhead. In Singapore we repaired two large gouges in our hull complements of hitting logs at night. We pass through waterways where many private vessels are hijacked (red sea and Sulu Sea).

To sail around the globe in a yacht, especially solo, is extremely gutsy. The powerboat record may not have as many big seas, but it still presents many challenges.

Pete - Skipper - Earthrace

 

[earthrace1]

In fact we had public through the boat on the saturday and sunday prior to our departure from Barbados. Around 800 of them. We had visits from three schools.

Pete - Skipper - Earthrace

 

[landaftaf]

I also extend a welcome, and thank you for putting your side of the story regarding the unfortunate collision, which seems to cloud your achievements for some of the acerbic die hard old fogies who haunt this forum .....

 

[tome]

[ QUOTE ]
Earthrace was only doing 15 knots at the time of the collision. It was an accident waiting to happen, although in Guatemala it is all too common. According to their Navy figures, there were over 60 collisions with fishing skiffs off the Guatemalan coast last year, although most of them are between local boats. Many vessels operate with no lights whatsoever

[/ QUOTE ]

Well Earthrace Pete, sounds very similr to West coast Africa where there are many low radar signature blacked-out fishing boats. We slowed down to 5 knots in transit and spent 2 years in these waters without hitting anyone. So the victim family earned a lifetime fortune in compensation, and there's a new college somewhere

When you say it was an accident waiting to happen do you mean because you were coming through at 15 knots at night?

Earthrace was a pointless excercise - from early on it was clear you were never going to break any records, and the bio fuel concept was ditched at the first obstacle so hardly worth continuing with the eco-friendly spiel really

Just an opinion, you understand

 

[Guest]

As I said it is like the deaths caused by that rally that was organized through Mongolian villages. They never planned to kill anyone, and they did all could to help afterwards, but they did. They introduced a danger out of the locals imagination into their normal world.

From captains blog:
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26ft fibreglass fishing skiff

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http://www.karlbuhl.com/Central%20America%20Logs/Log33_files-El-Salvador/Panga%20ride.jpg

This might give an impression of the weight and strength:

http://www.ravenadventures.com/gcr/news/imgs/haul_panga.jpg

These are called pangas they are built like tanks and are very stable in an Ocean Swell. They are normally considered indestructible and although they look low freeboard I have passed many in seas heavy seas. Went out on a trip in one, you need your sea legs. They plane very well and we met a lot along the coast up to San Diego. The one I was in, could hold 10 people and had buoyancy tanks front and rear. One thing is clear they did not row out 15 miles. They have outboards which are well above the water line and are easily detected on Radar especially within a mile. I know I tried to miss them all by at least 1/2 mile because we were cruising alone. We knew nobody for 1000s of miles.

Some quotes from MBY:
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before driving over to 3 boats fishing nearby

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So there were others around.

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Distefano spotted a small white and red flashing light directly ahead

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Now there is no light. They normally carry a white one.

Earthrace was crippled and limping due to a failure of the heat exchanger. It was too dangerous to go off the coast with only one engine. You had a bad wind zone coming up and took the inshore route. Its a shame that a culture and peoples activity to get tomorrows dinner, were around, to get in your way.

 

[graham]

your bit about outboard motors makinmg boats highly visible to radar is complete nonsence.If only that was true.

I think you are being way to harsh here. Do ships in the English Channel slow down at weekends beacause theres lots of yachts about? In lots of cases not even in dense fog sadly.

They were perfectly entitled to use whatever bit of Ocean they chose .

 

[landaftaf]

[ QUOTE ]
We slowed down to 5 knots in transit and spent 2 years in these waters without hitting anyone

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dont know which company chartered you - I find it inconceivable you steamed around at night at 5 kts ........ I was down there 2002 - 2005 and we steamed at economical speed everywhere (12.5 - 13), if not full speed (14.5 - 15).
if we were later than our eta at economical there were written answers to provide to the charterer
I am pretty sure we didnt hit any dugouts, though the local fishermen constantly tried to accuse us of damaging their nets.
some had dull yellow flat battery torches - shown at the last minute, some lit rag torches ....... some didnt do anything, the ones we saw.

to portray commercial vessels as reducing to 5 kts in open waters on the off chance there may be unlit fishing boats around is disingenuous - IMO

 

[Guest]

Graham we are taking about 1 mile range. The Italians use silvered balloons on their long net ends to find them. At short range it is easy to see a engine block.

Look at this reference:
http://www.alphalpha.org/radar/intro_e.html

And this one for a standard duck reflection:
http://www.ussailing.org/safety/Studies/radar_reflector_test.htm

With all factors, I always assume R squared relation. So Half the distance 4 times the return. So from 4 miles to 1 mile it is at least 16 times the return signal.

I have followed pods of dolphins at 0.5 miles. An outboard is easy.

 

[Twister_Ken]

>I still take my hat off to you guys<

My hat remains very firmly on. The earth faces a crisis caused by excessive consumption of hydrocarbons. To try, in any way, to resolve that problem by blasting around the globe in a hydrocarbon-fuelled vessel creating - how many tones of CO2? - no matter how it was sourced is totally bizarre. There are far better and more responsible ways of addressing the problem. Earthrace, from the beginning, has always reeked of hairy chested dick-measuring, disguised (thinly) as a noble cause.

 

[Guest]

As for biodiesel, it is ruining the earth. My only hope is that eventually the poppy farmers will find it more economical to grow.

Otherwise the forests of the world are being decimated in the chance of a bright biofueled future!

As soon as you skew the market then the short term gain people move in. These countries have not secured their resources and private companies are free to rape the land. There is now even a worry that certain areas are going to famine conditions as there is no staple crops in the fields.

Just try going through Malaysia on the train. You can not see any forest. It is just plantation after plantation of palms.

Bright ideas have consequences.

 

[graham]

Was there any sea running when you tracked the dolphins? For what its worth I have spent a big portion of my life peering into radar screens In calm conditions I have picked up gulls swimming.Never the less i dont have quite as much faith in their abilty as you seem to.I try to be as vigilant as possible but $hit happens.

I dont know the exact circumstances of the collision but have sympathy for the fisherman and the person on watch on Earth Race.

 

[sighmoon]

It seems to me that mistakes were made, but not admitted. To the outsider, it looks rather like every set back was someone else's fault.

The environmental badge appears to be an afterthought to make the challenge more palatable to sponsors. If it was an intrinsic part of the plan, I suspect the logistics team would have managed to get some Biodiesel to Palau.

[ QUOTE ]
According to their Navy figures, there were over 60 collisions with fishing skiffs off the Guatemalan coast last year, although most of them are between local boats. Many vessels operate with no lights whatsoever.

[/ QUOTE ]

One would think, that much being known, it would be an area best avoided, or at least in which to proceed with caution. Everyone who goes to sea does so taking known risks into account. Guatemalan fishermen are not expecting a speeding leisure boat to be approaching them at speed. Earthrace, on the other hand, ought to have been expecting unlit vessels, and could have taken precautions, such as using image intensifiers, or going slowly.

Your description of this incident is a bit insensitive (we paid them money, so it's OK now). Their loss is not financial, and not replaceable. At that point, it would have been respectful to abandon the attempt.

[ QUOTE ]
The powerboat and sailing records to circumnavigae the globe just have very different challenges. With sailing, just maintain a mast and sail and you'll get home. With powerboats you have a much more complex drivetrain to maintain...

...The powerboat record may not have as many big seas, but it still presents many challenges.

[/ QUOTE ]

What you seem to be saying is that you did well in not quite making it, because it was more difficult than sailing. Many would disagree. A more humble approach may be to admit that lessons were learned; or were they not?

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The point with biodiesel is it is to just become part of our transport energy mix.

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All said, I think windpower looks favourite for our nautical transport needs.

 

[Sixpence]

and when there is no wind ? . Sorry , but we can all shoot down as much as we like , but unless we come up with a viable alternative energy source , or means of propulsion , bio seems to be the way to go

 

[tome]

Try reading my post - I never said all commercial ships slowed down. I said that we did

We were under charter to Shell and it was agreed after a risk assessment that we would keep our transit speeds low whilst operating in certain coastal waters

 

[landaftaf]

[ QUOTE ]
Try reading my post - I never said all commercial ships slowed down

[/ QUOTE ]

Try reading my post - I never said all commercial ships slowed down either

it couldnt have been on or near the onne river or closer than 20 miles offshore the delta region.
purely on a professional level - where were you operating out of, 11 hrs of darkness hrs at 5 kts is a whole load of of late cargo, and that costs time (and money)

 

[Twister_Ken]

> is a whole load of of late cargo, and that costs time (and money) <

but saves lives.

 

[landaftaf]

so would it if cars went at 10 mph - comon - geat real

 

[tome]

[ QUOTE ]
to portray commercial vessels as reducing to 5 kts in open waters on the off chance there may be unlit fishing boats around is disingenuous

[/ QUOTE ]

So tell me how I'm being disingenuous?

Survey not cargo angola, congo, gabon, namibia

Normal survey speed 5 knots, transit speed 18-20. Unlit fishing boats identified as hazard inshore and instructions from shell to keep transit speeds night time low with good lookouts