Latest 'stable door bolting' from MAIB

[lw395]

Saying you need time to plan would not always help.
A yacht might want to divert at short notice for any number of reasons.
You need to know that your nav system will show you the hazards.
The old system of a paper chart did that.
The playstation did not.
The paper chart works even 'zoomed out' to passage chart level.

It's never been a secret that zooming out on chart plotters can lose things.
A VGA or whatever display with no intelligence was never fit for purpose on its own.
It's like viewing a chart through the letterbox.

 

[Mark-1]

Thanks. I wonder if RKJ is doing the intro for the digest this year?

Good spot. Bad lpdsn.

(...but FWIW after RKJ gave his GG prize money to Crowhurst's family at an age/time when RKJ would have found such a large sum of cash very useful he can do no wrong in my eyes.)

 

[BelleSerene]

Ages. But the navigator was flown in quite late. I presume like you and me he doesn't do any planning for races he's not going to take part in.

Of course. So he started with a big hands, small map vector chart, assumed there was nothing in the way between the bit of land marked START and the bit of land marked FINISH, pointed the boat in the right direction and then figured it was just about wind tactics? He did call himself a navigator, right? And how many minutes would it take you to zoom in on the parts of the sea you were proposing to sail over? What on earth was going on around him to deny him that time for Nav 101?

He did understand the limitations of a vector chart, right? He did ask to look at a paper chart, right? If one wasn’t available, he didn’t think to question the viability or legality of the boat, by any chance? Look, this really isn’t with the benefit of hindsight - can you be serious?!

 

[lpdsn]

Of course. So he started with a big hands, small map vector chart, assumed there was nothing in the way between the bit of land marked START and the bit of land marked FINISH, pointed the boat in the right direction and then figured it was just about wind tactics? He did call himself a navigator, right? And how many minutes would it take you to zoom in on the parts of the sea you were proposing to sail over? What on earth was going on around him to deny him that time for Nav 101?

He did understand the limitations of a vector chart, right? He did ask to look at a paper chart, right? If one wasn’t available, he didn’t think to question the viability or legality of the boat, by any chance? Look, this really isn’t with the benefit of hindsight - can you be serious?!

I am always very wary of assuming I would have avoided the mistakes of others when I wasn't there. I hope I would have avoided it had I been put in his position. You clearly know that you would've.

 

[lpdsn]

Good spot. Bad lpdsn.

(...but FWIW after RKJ gave his GG prize money to Crowhurst's family at an age/time when RKJ would have found such a large sum of cash very useful he can do no wrong in my eyes.)

I'm not criticising him. Just pointing out the irony. He has achieved an immense amount, including the Clipper Ventures races, despite this glitch.

 

[BelleSerene]

I am always very wary of assuming I would have avoided the mistakes of others when I wasn't there. I hope I would have avoided it had I been put in his position. You clearly know that you would've.

Obviously I don’t; you know I never said that and don’t think it. My position’s the same as yours: I damn well hope I’d have avoided the mistake. But it’s ridiculous to make out it’s not simply incompetent or negligent to have made it. The excuse that he ‘was flown in quite late’ and ‘doesn’t do any planning for races he’s not going to take part in’ is ridiculous when the shortcoming was not checking either a chart or an electronic vector plotter zoomed in on the waters he was about to navigate a race over. It doesn’t take hours, or much effort. Some people just don’t get responsibility.

 

[lpdsn]

Obviously I don’t; you know I never said that and don’t think it. My position’s the same as yours: I damn well hope I’d have avoided the mistake. But it’s ridiculous to make out it’s not simply incompetent or negligent to have made it. The excuse that he ‘was flown in quite late’ and ‘doesn’t do any planning for races he’s not going to take part in’ is ridiculous when the shortcoming was not checking either a chart or an electronic vector plotter zoomed in on the waters he was about to navigate a race over. It doesn’t take hours, or much effort. Some people just don’t get responsibility.

I guess we both agree what he should've done. As he was an experienced professional with a previously good track record it's a bit naive to simply point the finger and say incompetent and negligent. I don't know what stopped him doing it. His CV certainly now has a pretty big black mark against it.

Personally I prefer to do as much as possible of my planning at home in advance of the race. I laminate cards up and take them with me to the boat where I finish off the planning that can only be done there (and usually I try to go down to the boat the week before to set up things like waypoints and cross check them). Many of the what if parts of the plan end up being discarded unused. However when something does come up out of the blue and you can pull out the card and say 'here's one I prepared earlier' it does give you an advantage. In fact occasionally I can be chuffed for quite a while afterwards if it works. And of course things can come up out of the blue that you haven't anticipated and you just have to wing it making the best of the info available to you.

If I got a call saying can you take over nav we're doing x race tomorrow I can tell you now that my planning would fall short of what I like. I've not wrecked a boat yet under those circumstances but neither had he before this.

So I really don't feel entitled to throw the first stone. Whatever, his reputation is seriously diminished now anyway.