Manslaughter Waiting to Happen

[sailor211]

The report appear to be very inaccurate.
Neils own post shows all electrics dead. But small amount of main raised and small foresail. Making some headway but depends on wind.

trackers obviously stopped transmission.

What would have helped would have been manual start on engine. I’ve not had that option for 30 years.

 

[dunedin]

The report appear to be very inaccurate.
Neils own post shows all electrics dead. But small amount of main raised and small foresail. Making some headway but depends on wind.

trackers obviously stopped transmission.

What would have helped would have been manual start on engine. I’ve not had that option for 30 years.

There was a famous case a few years back of a manual emergency start of the engine on an Open 60 - it was absolute necessity time so was done via a rope and crash gbying the large mainsail to provide the kick !

 

[Supertramp]

Perhaps we are looking at the reason why multiple and backup systems are used on many long distance yachts.

If I had high dependence on electrical gear like winches, navigation, steering I would want be able to isolate and diagnose problems.

I wouldn't blame the winch or the mainsail or even the skipper (there but for fortune goes any of us....) but I would ask whether the boat had sacrificed integrity and reserve in favour of speed and perhaps cost. Racing doesn't have to involve unnecessary risks.

 

[Cariberia]

If our main was jammed, easy enough to just scandalise it with topping lift.

If our main was jammed, easy enough to just scandalise it with topping lift.

Indeed he could but now that we have a lot more information about the emergency both our suggestions are redundant.

Hi guys. First time I have been on this site, but thought I'd clarify what ( a lot) happened.
I did only have one autopilot functions on departure, but having sailed several thousand miles with it, was happy to do so( raymarine evolution,simrad hydraulic ram)
On departure from Plymouth I was on one reef in the main as my new one did not arrive in time and the previous owner's sponsors logo was on the foot of the sail.
Light winds at first, building so set code zero. As the wind increased, set Solent and furled the code zero. I messed up the drop and damaged the sail retrieving it. My bad.
As the wind continued to increase,I dropped to to reefs in the main and furled the solent, preparing to set the staysail.
Unfortunately, the new facnor furler wouldn't completely furl the solent and left me with the equivalent of a storm jib unfurled. As Cariberia was comfortable with this, I decided to wait for daylights and the wind to veer to the west before sorting this out,my intention was to pass the sheets around the forestay several times to get a full furl.
By now the wind was gusting forty knots and the webbing tape on the ruler broke, leaving me with full Solent. I didn't want to drop it in the conditions, couldn't furl it so beared away to reduce the apparent wind. this was taking me due North ( Greenland/ Iceland) so I gybed and was then heading towards Rockall, Scotland and Ireland being options.
As I had way to much headsail,I decided to drop the main but the spinlock clutch jammed, stripped the outer core of the halyard which jammed in the clutch. I then stripped the outer sheaf of the halyard ( a long job with dyneema) so that I at least had a useable halyard.
Meanwhile, I was using the engine to charge the batteries, the watt and sea generater controller had fallen in the bilge and damaged. Refuelling was problematic as the filler is in the cockpit and subject to a lot of water. I had to top the tank up from the interior by removing the engine supply/return pipes and topping up from there.
The raymarine plotter indicated low voltage,11.7 volts,which surprised me as the battery monitor was reading far higher. I attempted to start the engine but too late. I thought it best to conserve the power remaining for the occasional GPS fix.
I used shock cord on the tillers and sail trim for self steering and headed towards Northern Ireland while trying to get the watt and sea generater dried and working.
I was unaware that my satellite tracking device wasn't working ( yellow brick) , wasn't in any need of immediate assistance, so gave myself searoom whilst heading south/ south east.
When I dropped the main, I found a two and a half metre tear in the leech and started to repair it when the weather eased following the passage of a cold front. Self steering was a bit more difficult with the wind so far aft but was still possible with the headsail backed.
I was woken from my evening nap to find a helicopter above my mast . I was able to communicate with them with handheld VHF. I have three. They informed me that I had been reported missing and that a lifeboat was on route. I was more than grateful to accept a tow to Clare island county mayo Ireland, the only place nearby that could accommodate my three metre draft. I've since been making repairs and enjoying the hospitality of the locals and their beautiful island. Having changed the batteries and started the engine, I discovered that the propeller has fallen off. Also the screws on the connections between the sections of the foil on the furler have come loose. I'll have to disconnect the forestay to rectify this.
All in all,a bit of a nightmare, but safe and sound and heading to the UK this week.

 

[Graham376]

Welcome to the forum. What a nightmare of a trip!

 

[geem]

Hi guys. First time I have been on this site, but thought I'd clarify what ( a lot) happened.
I did only have one autopilot functions on departure, but having sailed several thousand miles with it, was happy to do so( raymarine evolution,simrad hydraulic ram)
On departure from Plymouth I was on one reef in the main as my new one did not arrive in time and the previous owner's sponsors logo was on the foot of the sail.
Light winds at first, building so set code zero. As the wind increased, set Solent and furled the code zero. I messed up the drop and damaged the sail retrieving it. My bad.
As the wind continued to increase,I dropped to to reefs in the main and furled the solent, preparing to set the staysail.
Unfortunately, the new facnor furler wouldn't completely furl the solent and left me with the equivalent of a storm jib unfurled. As Cariberia was comfortable with this, I decided to wait for daylights and the wind to veer to the west before sorting this out,my intention was to pass the sheets around the forestay several times to get a full furl.
By now the wind was gusting forty knots and the webbing tape on the ruler broke, leaving me with full Solent. I didn't want to drop it in the conditions, couldn't furl it so beared away to reduce the apparent wind. this was taking me due North ( Greenland/ Iceland) so I gybed and was then heading towards Rockall, Scotland and Ireland being options.
As I had way to much headsail,I decided to drop the main but the spinlock clutch jammed, stripped the outer core of the halyard which jammed in the clutch. I then stripped the outer sheaf of the halyard ( a long job with dyneema) so that I at least had a useable halyard.
Meanwhile, I was using the engine to charge the batteries, the watt and sea generater controller had fallen in the bilge and damaged. Refuelling was problematic as the filler is in the cockpit and subject to a lot of water. I had to top the tank up from the interior by removing the engine supply/return pipes and topping up from there.
The raymarine plotter indicated low voltage,11.7 volts,which surprised me as the battery monitor was reading far higher. I attempted to start the engine but too late. I thought it best to conserve the power remaining for the occasional GPS fix.
I used shock cord on the tillers and sail trim for self steering and headed towards Northern Ireland while trying to get the watt and sea generater dried and working.
I was unaware that my satellite tracking device wasn't working ( yellow brick) , wasn't in any need of immediate assistance, so gave myself searoom whilst heading south/ south east.
When I dropped the main, I found a two and a half metre tear in the leech and started to repair it when the weather eased following the passage of a cold front. Self steering was a bit more difficult with the wind so far aft but was still possible with the headsail backed.
I was woken from my evening nap to find a helicopter above my mast . I was able to communicate with them with handheld VHF. I have three. They informed me that I had been reported missing and that a lifeboat was on route. I was more than grateful to accept a tow to Clare island county mayo Ireland, the only place nearby that could accommodate my three metre draft. I've since been making repairs and enjoying the hospitality of the locals and their beautiful island. Having changed the batteries and started the engine, I discovered that the propeller has fallen off. Also the screws on the connections between the sections of the foil on the furler have come loose. I'll have to disconnect the forestay to rectify this.
All in all,a bit of a nightmare, but safe and sound and heading to the UK this week.

That's a lot of failures!

 

[Buck Turgidson]

It's called Cascading Failure in my industry. Difficult to analyse what caused what and if there is a root cause.
Well done for managing what sounds like a pretty bad day at the office.

 

[Charlie Boy]

That’s a belter of a first post!

 

[[70521]]

@Cariberia thanks for the update. Always interesting to hear from the skipper.

As others have said, a bad day at the office. I just wish the RNLI took some time to get a better understanding of what actually happened before doing a press release.

 

[Mudisox]

We all make a decision to go to sea, balancing the desire to go/compete, with not all the jobs to do, done. He by his own admission was under resourced and not really ready to go to Northern waters.

However the RNLI certainly made a meal of it, - not really averting a disaster. Had Caribera managed to keep in touch, it would not have happened as described.

 

[bikedaft]

Hi guys. First time I have been on this site, but thought I'd clarify what ( a lot) happened.
I did only have one autopilot functions on departure, but having sailed several thousand miles with it, was happy to do so( raymarine evolution,simrad hydraulic ram)
On departure from Plymouth I was on one reef in the main as my new one did not arrive in time and the previous owner's sponsors logo was on the foot of the sail.
Light winds at first, building so set code zero. As the wind increased, set Solent and furled the code zero. I messed up the drop and damaged the sail retrieving it. My bad.
As the wind continued to increase,I dropped to to reefs in the main and furled the solent, preparing to set the staysail.
Unfortunately, the new facnor furler wouldn't completely furl the solent and left me with the equivalent of a storm jib unfurled. As Cariberia was comfortable with this, I decided to wait for daylights and the wind to veer to the west before sorting this out,my intention was to pass the sheets around the forestay several times to get a full furl.
By now the wind was gusting forty knots and the webbing tape on the ruler broke, leaving me with full Solent. I didn't want to drop it in the conditions, couldn't furl it so beared away to reduce the apparent wind. this was taking me due North ( Greenland/ Iceland) so I gybed and was then heading towards Rockall, Scotland and Ireland being options.
As I had way to much headsail,I decided to drop the main but the spinlock clutch jammed, stripped the outer core of the halyard which jammed in the clutch. I then stripped the outer sheaf of the halyard ( a long job with dyneema) so that I at least had a useable halyard.
Meanwhile, I was using the engine to charge the batteries, the watt and sea generater controller had fallen in the bilge and damaged. Refuelling was problematic as the filler is in the cockpit and subject to a lot of water. I had to top the tank up from the interior by removing the engine supply/return pipes and topping up from there.
The raymarine plotter indicated low voltage,11.7 volts,which surprised me as the battery monitor was reading far higher. I attempted to start the engine but too late. I thought it best to conserve the power remaining for the occasional GPS fix.
I used shock cord on the tillers and sail trim for self steering and headed towards Northern Ireland while trying to get the watt and sea generater dried and working.
I was unaware that my satellite tracking device wasn't working ( yellow brick) , wasn't in any need of immediate assistance, so gave myself searoom whilst heading south/ south east.
When I dropped the main, I found a two and a half metre tear in the leech and started to repair it when the weather eased following the passage of a cold front. Self steering was a bit more difficult with the wind so far aft but was still possible with the headsail backed.
I was woken from my evening nap to find a helicopter above my mast . I was able to communicate with them with handheld VHF. I have three. They informed me that I had been reported missing and that a lifeboat was on route. I was more than grateful to accept a tow to Clare island county mayo Ireland, the only place nearby that could accommodate my three metre draft. I've since been making repairs and enjoying the hospitality of the locals and their beautiful island. Having changed the batteries and started the engine, I discovered that the propeller has fallen off. Also the screws on the connections between the sections of the foil on the furler have come loose. I'll have to disconnect the forestay to rectify this.
All in all,a bit of a nightmare, but safe and sound and heading to the UK this week.

many thanks for posting. it is very easy to criticise from the comfort of an armchair, without knowing what actually happened. you had a lot of failures, jeez. i do like your almost throwaway line at the end "the propellor has fallen off"!! Hope you get some quick repairs, and are back sailing again soon.

 

[Juan Twothree]

However the RNLI certainly made a meal of it, - not really averting a disaster. Had Caribera managed to keep in touch, it would not have happened as described.

Nowhere in their press release does the RNLI claim to have averted a disaster. It seems fairly factual.

The only phrase I would question is where it says he was "at the mercy of the wind".

Although in a sense, he was. He was tired, conditions hadn't been great, and lots of things were going wrong all at once, including losing the propeller.

I'd imagine the skipper would have been quite grateful to see the lifeboat turn up.

 

[Cariberia]

Welcome to the forum. What a nightmare of a trip!

Welcome to the OSTAR, it's what you sign up for.. I completed the 2017 race so knew what to expect.
As for the main halyard issue, the papers published an aerial photo of Cariberia. Jib backed and main down for repairs.
The Irish Sunday times contacted me for a follow up article and was the closest to reality.

Waiting for a window to head back to the Hamble to replace the prop. Might need a push into the midstream pontoon on arrival if anyone is around in a rib.

Nowhere in their press release does the RNLI claim to have averted a disaster. It seems fairly factual.

The only phrase I would question is where it says he was "at the mercy of the wind".

Although in a sense, he was. He was tired, conditions hadn't been great, and lots of things were going wrong all at once, including losing the propeller.

I'd imagine the skipper would have been quite grateful to see the lifeboat turn up.

 

[Cariberia]

Welcome to the OSTAR, it's what you sign up for.. I completed the 2017 race so knew what to expect.
As for the main halyard issue, the papers published an aerial photo of Cariberia. Jib backed and main down for repairs.
The Irish Sunday times contacted me for a follow up article and was the closest to reality.

Waiting for a window to head back to the Hamble to replace the prop. Might need a push into the midstream pontoon on arrival if anyone is around in a rib.

I was very grateful to be offered a tow to Clare island county mayo, the only nearby anchorage that could accommodate my three metre draft. These guys are mainly volunteers and gave there time and effort to help me out in a potentially life threatening situation.
So the press didn't get the facts right, even sensationalised the situation. Guess that's what sells newspapers.
I wasn't actually that tired, I'd got the main down and had started to make repairs. I'd hoisted a bundle of tubular radar reflectors as the emergency nav lights are only suitable for a Christmas tree.
I'd eaten,was warm and dry and resting. Definitely not adrift, I'd got cariberia to steer herself using shock cord and sail trim for hundreds of miles in much stronger winds. Headsail was backed for the night, effectively hove to and woking south at four knots. I was unaware that the yellow brick tracker wasn't working. If I had known, I still had sufficient power left in the batteries to contact the coastguard or a passing ship. I also had three fully charged handheld VHF radios with which I communicated with the helicopter and lifeboat. I would have pinged my epirbs on a test, I have two ships epirbs and two plbs to alerts coastguard of my position and the fact that I was in control and not in distress. Was deliberately staying offshore to give myself searoom.
If I was ashore and someone else was reported missing, I would have done the same thing. I could have been injured, overboard or worse. So am grateful to friends and family, race control and emergency services for their concern and effort.
My wife Maria is putting out updates on my Facebook page , Neil Payter ocean racing, and feel free to contact me on this page or this forum. . Will soon be back in the solent if anyone cares to visit cariberia too.