Proprietors of Bavaria yachts CHECK your kiels

[branko]

What is happened in Croatia -it is good to know! Charter company order 13 new Bavaria 42 Match yachts. In first regata (Force 5-6) one boat loose kiel as the plastic brake around kiel screws (!!). One person died during havaria. After that Police inspections check all 13 yachts and find out that 9 of tham have rupture around kiel. Some of them have one steel plate in the bottom but some of them have two.Nobody know why same boats have different standards. I hope that Bavaria will give open report about this fault as always in such situations the best and cheapest way is to tell truth!

 

[tome]

This is very worrying to hear. Thanks for the update.

 

[StellaGirl]

Tragedy on the Adriatic
13 boats out of the 20-membered Adriatic Challenge fleet took part on its first regatta, on Mira Mare
Cup on the 25th of April, 2005. The „Bavaria 42 Match” type boats sailed from Bozsava to Vodice. In
the 30-40 knots yugo of the boats were cruising to the finish for a long time when they received
MAYDAY call from one of the boats.
As it turned out, the keel came off and the boat capsized in the night around 10 o’clock 2 kilometers
from the south coast of Murter. There were 6 people on board who fall to the 13 Celsius degree sea.
The boats nearby went to help them immediately and could save 5 men, the sixth however, lost his
life.
On the 2nd day of the tragedy the boat was tug into the harbor of Tribunj. The hole in the place of the
keel let draw the conclusion that the hull was ripped (out). Later investigations lead to the fact that the
keels on all of the 20 boats of the fleet were stirred. Now official investigations are taking place.
But what could happened with the keel? Because whatever could happened, the last thing what a
boat could leave is her keel. But for us the most shocking was the moment in Vodice when we saw –
and you can see the same on the pictures – the lot of gaps in most of the Bavaria Match 42s’ bilges.
The lack of some backing plates - which lead away the tension - was the most interesting revelation.
Whether it was the part of the unique construction according as the unchanged type boats aren’t the
same, so we can find sometimes three backing plates inside the bilge (I think this was the originally
idea), but sometimes only two therefrom. It is well apparent on the attached pictures.
three backing plates two backing plates, why just two?
We don’t know whether the capsized boat had all of these backing plates but irrespectively of this, we
can make a shrewd guess as to the accident happened as follows: In the midst of the big waves (2
meters high) the hull slowly had separated from the boat’s ribs, where the keel had been hanging, than
it was nothing to hold it any more, at this moment the first part let off and tugged the rear end of the
keel. This is our unofficially version, our opinion by the grounds of what we saw on the boats.
Circumstances: The participants reported other about the conditions of the regatta – supposedly it’s
depended on the routine, the brave and the adventurous. The wind was blowing steady 36 knots.

According to the Beaufort Scale this is a gale. The sailors used typical the second reef and small jibs.
Some of the sailors surrendered the regatta before the incident.
The stage Bozsava – Vodice was very prolonged and they have to cruising all along in strong wind.
Don’t forget, this is an amateur and not a transatlantic regatta so the participants haven’t got too much
routine.
The lock: There were other problems with these boats near (by)
the keel. The sailors told us and we suggested, that the Bavaria’s
cabin doors weren’t tested in choppy conditions because those
had been simply closed and nobody could opened it form outside
with the clench anymore only with a fork. (The incident
happened in that cabin where they stored their life-jackets.
The rudder: three from the twelve boats turned into beyond
control for short time as those rudders went wrong in the strong
winds. Allegedly a bolt wasn’t strained enough and it could
come loose. (kilazulhatott). After a Hungarian skipper this
problem befell not the first time at the Bavaria, but that time
wasn’t caused accident.
More pictures are available here:
http://www.sailing.hu/galeriak/versenyek_esemenyek_2005/mira
_mare_kupa/1/
the leak
The official press release of the Adriatic Challenge from the boat accident in Croatia
According to the boat accident on the 25th of April many wrong information came to light. The
Adriatic Challenge, the owner of the boat which lost its keel and capsized, summarizes the exact
course of the event as the following:
The Adriatic Challenge business enterprise was founded by 3 Hungarian businessmen and sailor:
Róbert Láng, József Gál and Lajos Gallasz. The company let the owned 20 boats to charter for
regattas, for companies’ programs, for team building trainings.
After long analysis, the owners choose the type Bavaria 42 Match for establishing their fleet, because
this type fit the best for their activity, so for the competitive and adventurous sailing. Choosing the
producer was according to the capacity, skill and reputation of the manufacturer. The Bavaria 42
Match appeared on the market in January 2004, and it proved to be good on several regattas since
then. The Adriatic Challenge ordered the 20 boats of its fleet from the 2nd largest boat-producing
company, from the German Bavaria in December 2004. The boats were manufactured according to the
strict German and European quality standards. At delivery all of the boats had the appropriate
certificate that proved the sterling usage.
The boats were launched at Koper, from which they were transported to the main harbor, to Biograd
by Croatian and Hungarian crew. On the way, the keel of one of the boats was damaged at the harbor
of Umagi, but the damage was corrected, so the boat arrived to Biograd in perfect condition. This boat
did not participate on the Mira Mare Cup, during the whole event she was in the harbor. There was not
any other damage on none of the boats of the fleet, so the Adriatic Challenge started the season with excellent boats. In the middle of April there was an open day, on which the whole fleet was tried out
(as they were moving on a club-regatta.)
13 out of the 20 boats participated on the Mire Mare Cup. It is important to mention that the Adriatic
Challenge did not actually organize the regatta; the company only let the boats for chartering.
The regatta started on Saturday. On Monday there was strong wind, but the weather conditions were
normal for the completion of the stage. The accident, the coming off of the keel happened at Monday
night, couple minutes after 10 o’clock. The boat capsized and the 6 members of the crew fall into the
water. 5 of them were luckily saved, the 6th died. The cause of death has been unknown yet; the police
investigations are still going on.
After the accident the Cup ended, the Adriatic Challenge called its boats back to the harbour of Vodice
and Biograd, where the Croatian Naval Office has already started investigations by examining the
boats.
The advance inspection detected that 7 boats have obvious, visible construction lesion around the keel.
In the course of the first technical control proved that the failures have the same type and denote
structural weaknesses. The injury of the boat could originate in designing or producing failure.
The definite technologic controls and expertise are under way. Beyond the Croatian authority, the
Adriatic Challenge and the insurer’s independent professionals also looking for the accident’s reason.
In the name of the Adriatic Challenge we would like to condole with the family of the departed on the
Mira Mare Cup ….
Róbert Láng
Managing Director
www.sailing.hu

 

[aluijten]

I've read the official statement of the race organisation (via the website mentioned), but did I read it correct that Bav is denying reponsibility?

Arno

 

[[2068]]

Bavaria seem to be saying that because there was some soft antifouling missing from the bottom surface of the keel, that it must have run aground at some point. Club disagrees, and points out that seven other boats in the fleet have cracks or damage to the keel mounting starting to show...

dv.

 

[PhilF]

there was a Bav moored next to me in Gosport 2 years ago, was going round to the med, brand new, day before they were due to leave they found the hull or something delaminating, had to come out the water for repair, all very comforting,

 

[TigaWave]

If the keel fell off it would hit the botom pretty hard on its own without the help of a bad driver?

 

[jasu74]

Bavaria Yachtbau beleaves that the boat had grounded and because of the fishing net on propeller they could not use engine:

"We assume because of the damage on the yacht, that it hit a rock when heeling and that due to the net in the propeller the engine could not be used and the crew had to continue under sails. The already loosened keel was finally ripped out when sailing on the starboard bow and the ship turned over. We have not been informed about the exact position of the accident, since the onboard GPS tracking system is not analysed, yet. Also the keel has not been found at this time."
http://keskustelu.suomi24.fi/show.fcgi?category=111&conference=667&posting=22000000008327028

other press releases:
"Underwater pictures of the keels, rudders and propellers of the Bavaria 42match-fleet that lies in Vodice and Biograd show that a total of fourteen (14) of the twenty yachts show clear and free of doubt tracks of grounding.
Also there are pictures of at least one propeller that has remains of rope´s end or nets."
http://www.yachting-selection.com/fr/home.php3

I hope that in someday we will know wath really happened.

 

[branko]

Re: Proprietors of Bavaria yachts CHECK your keels

Thanks for this report very much . Now everybody will see how serious this problem is. I read that Bavaria accused grounding for loosing keel, but how is possible that 9 boats from the fleet have ruptures around keels? In automotive industrie Producers calls every customer to make modification or repairing on their cars when they found some fault. Bavaria Yachtbau can loose everything if they will not be smart in near future regarding this problem.

 

[Peppermint]

Re: Vessels do ground from time to time. Don\'t they?

A vessel that can't take a bit of rough and tumble sounds just a bit unfit for it's purpose. Wouldn't you say?

 

[zefender]

Re: Proprietors of Bavaria yachts CHECK your keels

Nowhere near as tragic as the accident you describe....My Bav 40 (2001) came out of the water in April and I noticed three 'bubbles' in a straight line running vertically down the rudder. I called Bavaria distributor in the UK and was told - "Ah, 5 year hull warranty certainly, but this doesn't apply to the rudder" They offered me a new one for £3K. Interestingly, the rudders are not made by Bavaria themselves. They sent a warranty surveyor though who recommended a fix. Apparently it was full of water. 4 weeks after holes being drilled, it's still draining. The yard plan to inject new foam, drop the rudder and cut a V section in the top and fill this with sealant to prevent more water ingress in future.

At least the keel seems OK though!

 

[iangrant]

Re: Proprietors of Bavaria yachts CHECK your keels

I'd try a letter from the old solicitor - that sounds like a latent defect.

ian

 

[Talulah]

Re: Vessels do ground from time to time. Don\'t they?

I wonder how many worried Bavaria owners there are on here? (Or those who are waiting delivery?)

 

[Graham_Wright]

I looked at Bavarias at the boat show with a view to stealing ideas.

The best one I came away with was to avoid shrouds in a straight line. If the forestay or backstay goes, so does the mast.

Hence I have staggered shrouds and twin forestays and twin backstays;- over the top maybe but I can't afford a new mast!

Someone told me they'd seen a Bavaria capsize in harbour in a flat calm.

That's where the Skoda management went then.

 

[tome]

There are a few Bavaria owners on here who won't find your remarks too useful.

It's a good thread, and I hope that there's a satisfactory conclusion. Derogatory comments don't add much to the debate IMO.

 

[iangrant]

Doesn't seem to be a problem with the ordinary ones though is it just the match type?

I think there are an awful lot of them sailing around all over the place, so they can't be all bad.

Maybe the Bavaria people should do and pay for a recall to keep their "lloyds" build certification? Never sure it was the same as the lloyds of London one though.

Ian

 

[tome]

It's about brand protection I'd guess. Hope they aren't daft enough to raise their drawbridges on this.

At least they don't claim they're unsinkable!!!

 

[Peppermint]

Re: Bav\'s are OK but

this Match thing is a bit of a departure for them. I've sailed a load of their cruisers and the main bits are reliable. Charter operators find that a bit more running repair might be necessary than with some other popular brands and that wear shows up quicker on interior trim. That being said they are cheap.

 

[Graham_Wright]

Why?

How can you justify in-line shrouds or capsizing in harbour?

The first is certainly true and I have no reason to doubt the second.

Derogatory maybe but true?

 

[tome]

You're not explaining this 'shrouds in a straight line' too well. Don't know about the match, but the cruiser 42 has cap shrouds led aft and lower stays.

On my own boat I only have a single forestay and backstay, but few would consider this a problem. She held the title for an Atlantic race from Cape Town to St Helena.

I'd like to know where the Bavaria capsized in harbour, and why you think a reference to Skoda adds to the debate.