Interesting report from the Marine Casualty Investigation Board - Ireland

[doris]

Being wise after the event is a wonderful thing, but the real benefit of being wise after someone else's event is that, with a bit of luck and some thought, it that it allows us to be wise before our event. If we put all these yes buts and what abouts into our own passage planning, it may just keep us out of a similar nasty hole.

Absolutely. Other people's mistakes are always the best to learn from, even if only sitting a taverna with an ouzo and watching boats come in stern to when there a nice crosswind.
In this case lots to take on board.

 

[doris]

The times I have been in a storm have not imbued me with any sense of heroism or superiority, but a rather sobering realization of how damned lucky I have been and how quickly things can turn to sh**. The most enthusiastic comments, not to say advice, usually come from those who have never been in really bad weather and are often the same that come aboard my boat and tell me they would like to experience a storm at sea. Not bloody likely, if I have anything to do with it.

Spot on sir

 

[Kukri]

This is an interesting thread.

 

[matt1]

This is an interesting thread.

And hasn't descended into a "my boats better than yours and would have kept going through a force 15"...blah blah. Maybe we are behaving better as we start to get released from lockdown ;-)

 

[Irish Rover]

This is an interesting thread.

I found the report interesting and informative and I thought it would be of interest to others on here. Many of the comments on the thread have been equally if not more informative and thought provoking for a fair weather boater like myself. Like me others appear to have time on their hands so I'm posting a separate thread with a report about a collision between a sailing yacht and a tanker off Dublin - by coincidence an Irish yacht and a Turkish tanker.

 

[Stemar]

thought provoking for a fair weather boater like myself

One of the thoughts it provokes in this fair weather sailor is the absolute conviction to remain a fair weather sailor

 

[glynd]

Absolutely. Other people's mistakes are always the best to learn from, even if only sitting a taverna with an ouzo and watching boats come in stern to when there a nice crosswind.
In this case lots to take on board.

Wish I was sitting in a taverna with somethig other than ouzo watching boats come in stern to..... soon, I hope

 

[Kukri]

Wish I was sitting in a taverna with somethig other than ouzo watching boats come in stern to..... soon, I hope

A retsina? Rather you than me...?

 

[glynd]

A retsina? Rather you than me...?

Settle for a nice, cold Mythos

 

[zoidberg]

Apart from the 'dissing' of the Irish Marine 'fonctionnaires' and their box-ticking, what can we take away from this?

The crew were quite well-experienced coastal/offshore sailors, and this trip would have added another layer of experience. It certainly did.
The crew/vessel were well equipped with what appeared to be sound personal safety gear.
Their location when they became overwhelmed was - at 85nm north and more from A Coruna - well off the continental shelf. From memory, the water is about 3000 metres deep there.
Effective, deployable storm sails are a 'must have' for offshore and further.
Lying beam-on to breaking seas is hazardous to life and limb. An effective form of drag device - be it a JSD or a pair of tyres - is certainly a 'must have' where there is the prospect of being unable to dive into a weather-haven within a few hours.
I certainly would not consider making for a port on the French Atlantic coast as a weather haven, unless L'Iroise/Brest was close to hand. The GRIB files shown by Roberta in #57 and the loss of a French 'canot de sauvetage' with 3 crew members is evidence enough, if any were needed.
There's plenty to mull over in 'Heavy Weather Sailing' ( any edition ) about the potential for storm problems in Biscay.
Storms of that intensity are survivable - with the right gear and the right knowhow.

 

[doris]

I certainly would not consider making for a port on the French Atlantic coast as a weather haven, unless L'Iroise/Brest was close to hand. The GRIB files shown by Roberta in #57 and the loss of a French 'canot de sauvetage' with 3 crew members is evidence enough, if any were needed.

Had they used the freely available forecasting available there was very ample time to get to a multitude of W France ports before any heavy weather arrived. That, together with the lack of heavy weather sails was, IMHO, verging on criminal.