Exciting times off Cowes today

Really bad luck; but goodness me, the journalism! :eek:

"The three passengers have been rescued and safely brought ashore but rescue workers fear the boat may be unnavigable."​
 
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CAPTAIN FANTASTIC said:
...or they lost steerage/rudder and subsequently collided with the buoy and sank.
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scottie said:
Collision by GPS?
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While we're speculating...

They were clearly under sail (or possibly motorsailing?) in forecast F5 gusting 8 conditions (Bramblemet history shows W 15kts gusting 28 this afternoon), so I'd be surprised if they were navigating to a WPT on autohelm while having a gentle cuppa down below, and the holing must surely have been at the bows (the bit under water). All this points to the rudder just popping off at an unfortunate moment.

PS Mid-ebb just after lunch, so bouncy wind over tide off Cowes is not an ideal position for this to happen. Hope that all crew are well - the boat is replaceable.

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dom said:
Really bad luck; but goodness me, the journalism! :eek:

"The three passengers have been rescued and safely brought ashore but rescue workers fear the boat may be unnavigable."​
Click to expand...

And this was apparently the observation made by George, the Cowes RNLI Press Officer.
Although the first two comments start with inverted commas, but don't have them at the end.
The third comment (mentioning 'unnavigable') does have inverted commas at both ends.

I am also a bit baffled by the apparent coincidence re losing the rudder at the same time as clobbering the buoy.
With all the assistance that showed up, did they manage to keep the yacht afloat long enough to get her to a suitable haul out facility?
 
Bajansailor said:
And this was apparently the observation made by George, the Cowes RNLI Press Officer.
Although the first two comments start with inverted commas, but don't have them at the end.
The third comment (mentioning 'unnavigable') does have inverted commas at both ends.

I am also a bit baffled by the apparent coincidence re losing the rudder at the same time as clobbering the buoy.
With all the assistance that showed up, did they manage to keep the yacht afloat long enough to get her to a suitable haul out facility?
Click to expand...

No: she sank.
 
Kukri said:
I’m trying to puzzle out how the buoy mooring chain got tangled with the rudder. If indeed that is what happened and not journalist’s speculation.
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Once the boat’s cuddling up to the thing, especially being pushed against it by a strong tide, it doesn’t seem at all far-fetched for the chain to get forced under the hull. If it happens to pass aft of the keel, because of where the buoy’s lying against the topsides and which way the boat’s pointing relative to the tide, it’s pretty much guaranteed to then snag the rudder as the boat slips off the buoy.

Not saying that’s what definitely happened, but the mechanism seems perfectly plausible to me.

Pete
 
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