Fatal Dinghy Accident at Whitstable

[Zen Zero]

http://www.whitstablelifeboat.org.uk/2011/15aug2011a.htm

From the little info available I deduce that the two men rented a Wanderer from Whitstable Yacht Club in the morning on Monday, sailed all day and got into difficulty towards sunset (20:30).

The survivor banged on the nearest door at 03:30 - 7 hours later - and only then was the alarm raised.

My guess is that the 2 men stayed with their boat waiting for rescue and only decided to swim for it when they realised help was not coming.

Why didn't WYC raise the alarm when they saw that one of their boats was still missing at sunset?

 

[fireball]

Sad story ...

Not sure where you get the "rented" bit from - if it were then I could understand your last question ....

Why didn't WYC raise the alarm when they saw that one of their boats was still missing at sunset?

I can find nothing in any of the statements to refer to a rented vessel - so assume that it was their own vessel. Yacht clubs rarely keep tabs on those who launch - especially when launching into public water (reservoirs often have different rules) - so it is conceivable that nobody knew they were missing.

It is a good example of why you should always have someone ashore who is expecting contact from you at a certain time - so S&R will be started in a timely fashion should you not appear.

 

[Zen Zero]

I got the "rented" bit from the Italian press

http://corrieredelveneto.corriere.i...roncato-mentre-nuota-riva-1901314001366.shtml

but the article contains a number of imprecisions so maybe this bit isn't true either.

Your point is much better made than mine was!

 

[fireball]

Ah - that's ok - I can't read Italian ... also the english news items state that it was on Sunday ...

 

[Juan Twothree]

Ah - that's ok - I can't read Italian ... also the english news items state that it was on Sunday ...

They launched the dinghy Sunday lunchtime.

The SAR took place early on Monday morning.

 

[Searush]

Pity they didn't have the basic knowledge/ability to right the dink, bale it out & sail back. Even lake sailors benefit from capsize drill, but at sea it is literally a lifesaver.

 

[jon711]

I actually believe it was a Wayfarer. Now, I have experience of capsizing a Wayfarer off Whitstable. We had borrowed Steven Jeckells boat for the Wayfarer Nationals, over 20 years ago, it was a double bottom self drainer. What, no one had told us that once, you capsize one, you have to sail it out of the capsize, to get momentum and stability, otherwise, as happened in our case, with all that water on top of the buoyancy, you just fall over again. We re-capsized about 14-15 times, before tiredness got us, we bounced the mast off the bottom, and broke the mast. We were out on the way to the start of the practice race!!

Now, I am not saying this boat was an SD version, but could explain, the result (Luckely we had rescue boats in attendance to tow us in). My sympathies are with the family of the deceased....

Jon

 

[Seajet]

Job for the RYA

It is sadly seen by some to be 'wimpish' to carry flares and / or a waterproof torch; I was able to keep these discreet in a locker in my last dinghy but made sure all crew knew how to use them.

The sooner we can make it 'cool' - not mandatory - to carry such kit, the better; I know several people at my club, ages from 35 to 66, who barely survived only by being spotted by chance in daytime after capsizes.

This is not a comment on the people in the Whitstable incident and my thoughts go out to the survivor and families, just a hope for the future that we all might make improvements.

 

[flaming]

It is sadly seen by some to be 'wimpish' to carry flares and / or a waterproof torch; I was able to keep these discreet in a locker in my last dinghy but made sure all crew knew how to use them.

The sooner we can make it 'cool' - not mandatory - to carry such kit, the better; I know several people at my club, ages from 35 to 66, who barely survived only by being spotted by chance in daytime after capsizes.

This is not a comment on the people in the Whitstable incident and my thoughts go out to the survivor and families, just a hope for the future that we all might make improvements.

In this case, a mobile phone in a waterproof pouch would have done the trick, and got the SAR going fast.

Waferers are about the hardest boats to right in my experience, they are really heavy!

 

[fireball]

Waferers are about the hardest boats to right in my experience, they are really heavy!

Really?! They're one of the easiest boats to right IME - just a bugger to bail afterwards!
They're easy to right because they float so low - the centreboard is about on the waterline - easy to climb onto - if you have enough time before the boat is upright ...
Best to scoop the other crew - who can then release sails and hold the tiller whilst you get aboard.

 

[flaming]

Really?! They're one of the easiest boats to right IME - just a bugger to bail afterwards!
They're easy to right because they float so low - the centreboard is about on the waterline - easy to climb onto - if you have enough time before the boat is upright ...
Best to scoop the other crew - who can then release sails and hold the tiller whilst you get aboard.

I dunno if it was just the one we had then (only ever sailed one once), but we (probably less than 22 stone between us) were really struggling to stop it from turning turtle unless we made it straight onto the daggerboard without going into the water. And once it had we had no chance, and needed a rib to help us.

 

[fireball]

Dunno what you had then - cos I was capsizing them at the age of 14 (at prob around 7-8 stone) and the boat was upright before I got onto the centreboard ... didn't need extra crew ...
It turned turtle if we made it ... and even then didn't struggle to get it back up.

 

[Alfie168]

Only been over once in a Wayfarer on a reservoir. They are a pretty bulky, but basic principles of dinghy righting will get you upright in favourable conditions. At sea, where waves might re swamp the dinghy, I'd not be so confident. I have raced them in the Clyde in rough conditions. I was quite concerned/determined not to capsize.

A sad business

Tim

 

[flaming]

Dunno what you had then - cos I was capsizing them at the age of 14 (at prob around 7-8 stone) and the boat was upright before I got onto the centreboard ... didn't need extra crew ...
It turned turtle if we made it ... and even then didn't struggle to get it back up.

It was a tired club one, so it's possible it was half full of water I guess.

I certainly wasn't very impressed with the boat overall.

 

[jon711]

Really?! They're one of the easiest boats to right IME - just a bugger to bail afterwards!
They're easy to right because they float so low - the centreboard is about on the waterline - easy to climb onto - if you have enough time before the boat is upright ...
Best to scoop the other crew - who can then release sails and hold the tiller whilst you get aboard.

Not, a Self Draining Version, you HAVE to get the boat moving while still righting the boat, once moving, no bailing needed. The Self Drainers are the hardest boat to right, that I have come across in over 30 years of dinghy sailing....

 

[Sailfree]

Early versions of the wayfarer are easy to right but are unstable until they are bailed out. We have raced various marks of Wayfarers and I always have a knotted polypropolene rope tied to each shroud.

Often I can grab it and go over the side and prevent a complete capsize but even with a complete capsize and the boat inverted using the rope or a sheet and leaning on the centreboard they are easy to right. We never bail but once righted concentrate on balancing the boat (it is low in the water and bigger waves can wash over the sides) and start sailing on a reach with the self bailers open. The wind in the sails and crew can on a reach easily balance a Wayfarer full of water and it soon empties.

As we always "go for it" and fly a spinnaker in marginal conditions when racing we got quite good at quick recoveries from a capsize and often only lost a few places. At one regional event at Shoreham the conditions were so bad that we could not see other competitors masts over the top of the waves.

The new Mk 4 is a vast improvement with a greater bouyancy between the inner and outer hull instead of a front and aft buoyancy tank. It has now been rated to carry 6 70kg persons! With greater buoyancy it therefore rights higher in the water, and has rear transom flaps in addition to the self bailers so the water drains out even easier.

Because of the increased buoyancy in the Mk4 it does tend to invert more quickly like the older self draining variety.

At the International Championship in Holland in 2007 3 of the competitors sailed across the North Sea from the UK to take part - a good testament to the seagoing qualities of the 50 yr old Procter design.

The new Mk 4 is such an improvement that most competitive sailers are buying them but a 50yr old boat No 88 (albeit with a good helm and crew) are still up there in the rankings. The great thing about the Wayfarer is that a competent sailor with good crew can take a new Mk 4 out of the box and have an equal chance of winning a race as it is one class racing. This also is resulting in a number of good earlier Mks of Wayfarers being available on the secondhand market.

For pleasure per £ our Wayfarer sailing is 100 fold better value than our Jeanneau 43! We are both looking forward to doing next weeks Poole week racing where there are some 20+ wayfarers entered and there always seem to be a few really windy days and with our new Mk 4 the only reason we will be near the back will be that we are wally's!



Sad about this incident at Whitstable but it appears to me that 2 basic rules have been broken without any consideration to the weather/sea state/sailors ability. 1. Always tell a buddy ashore what you are doing and ETA. 2. Clubs must tally out sailors and check the tally's returned especially if the sailing is to be done on the sea.

 

[northwind]

2. Clubs must tally out sailors and check the tally's returned especially if the sailing is to be done on the sea.

For clubs that are run on a voluntary basis, this is just not feasible, if they were racing they would be checked in and out using the sign off sheets. However if they had chosen to go off for a sail on their own, who in the club should be checking them back in?

I completely agree that they should have told someone ashore what they were doing / where they were going, and likewise should have had a means to call for help. But no sailing club can be held responsible for the actions of one its members who decides to put to sea.

It is ultimately the helm's responsibility to put to sea, not the clubs. And spare a thought for poor guy who now has to live with the decisions he made.

 

[Yeoman of England]

Fatal Incident

All

I was on watch for the whole incident along with Juan 23 and his many colleagues.

This was a very sad demise. Especially so for the survivor and all the search units on scene and the poor fishing boat skipper who discovered our missing person.

Please do not take press releases as fact. It was a very traumatic night for all concerned.

Yeoman

 

[Sailfree]

It is ultimately the helm's responsibility to put to sea, not the clubs. And spare a thought for poor guy who now has to live with the decisions he made.

I agree my mention of Clubs to arrange a tally out/in scheme was not meant to imply that the club is responsible.

I do not know the exact circumstances of this case but generally clever lawyers will try to claim from anyone that is worth taking action against so I hope the clubs methods are robust enough so that no blame (even partial) is attributed to them.

At Parkstone YC there is a tally system for all race days even when racing within the harbour and the rescue boat numbers have been increased over recent years.

 

[fireball]

At Parkstone YC there is a tally system for all race days even when racing within the harbour and the rescue boat numbers have been increased over recent years.

Really is going off subject - but I'm not surprised - it's not a pleasant subject to discuss. Mistakes happen and it will be a difficult time for all involved - especially the families.

As for race tallies - yes, there are various methods used by many clubs - usually dependant on the numbers involved. Our club has 1 safety boat - so we just count the number of entries on the race sheet and check against the number of sails/boats you can see ... quite simple and perfectly adequate for a small club race.

For cruising there is no tally system - there would be little point as the club isn't manned by staff - so nobody to check the tally. This is where (as said earlier) a shore based contact would be advised who can start to raise concerns when you don't check in at the advised time.