Port Solent - Boats fallen in the wind

Georgio

Georgio

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Unfortunately a large yacht (looked like a Bav) has been blown over, it's cradle not man-enough perhaps for the strong winds. It appears to have fallen onto a motor yacht that is now also on the ground. I didn't get out of the car to investigate due to the pouring rain but the yard were sorting it out.

Hope she doesn't belong to anyone on here??
 
Was it on a cradle or pit-props?
Is there any data about what kind of cradle is least/most likely to fail?
I ssuspect that the problem is often the boat starts rocking, packers/wedges fall out, the boat rocks more etc etc, rather than sheer wind force blowing it over. My boat is very deep fin, and I have been worried by this! Sympathy to all involved.
Chris.
 
In a case like this is the owner of the boat that was blown over liable for damage to the boat that it landed on.

Or does that damage count as storm damage with no liability on the falling boat.

Or is the yard liable for not shoring up adequately.

Hope there is not too much damage - to anyone.
 
Last January a larger Bavaria fell from it's cradle and landed on top of my UFO 34. One of the legs of the cradle had pushed itself through the hull. It was an ugly wound.
When lifting my boat out of the water a few months before, I had to disconnect the backstay. Since it proved a bigger job reassembling it than I thought, and considering that I would have to disconnect it again when going back into the water, I was lazy and tied it up with an end of 5mm rope. When the Bavaria's mast hit my backstay, that piece of rope snapped. This may well have saved my boat from total loss.
Fortunately there was little damage to my mast; as the Bavaria's insurance would not cover this (they said this was an exceptional storm). The owner, a fellow club member, was very sporty in dealing with the bill of my new VHF antenna.
This happened in Bruges, Belgium.
 
Negligence has to be proved for liability. If the cradle and means by which a boat are secured are adequate then the owner or yard are not negligent.
 
Whatever the cradle, if you own a fin keedled boat and decide to leave the mast up to save a few quid its bad practice and YOUR gamble.
Any way, the fewer Bavs the better! The keel would have probably fallen off any way ! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
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Negligence has to be proved for liability. If the cradle and means by which a boat are secured are adequate then the owner or yard are not negligent.

[/ QUOTE ]

In various marinas in the Sth of France, I've seen boats on cradles secured additionally with straps from deck down to anchors embedded in the ground.

Presumably, the French also have experience of yachts blowing over in high winds and consider cradles to be inadequate. Nor is this the first time it's happened over here. Given the known risks of yachts in cradles being blown over, I would have thought that there is a convincing case to be made for negligence.

As for insurance companies arguing that certain storms are exceptional...isn't that the sort of risk that we insure our boats against? What next - only paying out for total loss where a boat goes down in an ordinary gale but refusing a claim if it blows a hurricane?
 
I don't make the rules. I've seen lots of boats over at Conway about 10-12 years ago and more recently at Holyhead.
 
I ssuspect that the problem is often the boat starts rocking, packers/wedges fall out, the boat rocks more etc etc, rather than sheer wind force blowing it over. My boat is very deep fin, and I have been worried by this! Sympathy to all involved.
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Of course the mast was UNSTEPPED ?????

We did discuss this matter didn t we ....
 
I also suspect that boats shored up on hard tarmack, are not as secure as on an unmade up surface (scalpings). The props can get shacken out and slide over the surface more easily
 
In Brittany it's common to have lines from the mastheads to ground anchors some distance away in exposed spots. I've often wondered why we don't follow their example - or unship the mast.
 
Been told that in the marina here (NE) I have to remove masts to be covered by their insurance when out. In Spain when out it was no problem but the yard would frequently check the chocks, especially during winter.
 
[ QUOTE ]
In Brittany it's common to have lines from the mastheads to ground anchors some distance away in exposed spots. I've often wondered why we don't follow their example - or unship the mast.

[/ QUOTE ]

That seems a good idea but probably unlikey to be adopted here, as many boatyards like to pack in all the boats they can and guy ropes would make this more difficult.
 
Not surprised personally. I have seen plenty of boats in PS chocked with bits of wood and wedges with no ties with the masts often left up. From what I can see the yard staff take a very cavalier attitude to safety and I would sue the **** off them if it was my boat. Any respectable shipwright walking around there would testify in court that their standard of chocking is inadequate. Also, notwithstanding the comments regarding Bavs, that I will keep out of, any respectably designed cradle should support the hull on known hard spots, i.e. at bulkheads etc. not in the middle of light panels between. Again I saw a boat there (not a Bav) chocked so badly that when the wind blew the panel could be seen to deflect about 1/2 inch.
I wouldn't park my car near it and moved it. Such a pity that an otherwise well run marina is let down by such careless and unthinking yard staff...
 
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Of course it could not be that the hull is too thin to support the boat in a pretty standard cradle if it is windy... What a stupid concept.

[/ QUOTE ]As per BoatMike above.... not many fibreglass boats would stand up well to the supports being positioned mid panel... they're designed to spread loads, not concentrate it... the supports should be against bulkheads etc... not fair to use it as a cheap point against Bavarias
 
The yard where my boat came out (MRC) use big racket cargo straps for holding the boats, mostly mast in, in steel cradles with screw adjustable legs. Nothing to work loose or fall of.

Seems a good system
 
Having started the thread I'd like to point out that I believe the work done in the yard is generally very good, in three year's I haven’t had any problem with the way they have moved or supported my boats ashore. Unfortunately the Bav that fell was beam-on to the wind and with such a large hull area would have had significant buffeting from the wind. I'm please to say that all boats around me are stern-to the prevailing winds.

Perhaps it was a combination of poor choice of position and orientation for such a high sided boat rather than just failure of a cradle?
 
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