Sailboat capsized into pier

[Andrew E]

Terrifying... I do hope they were all ok...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Isufp-6fudo

Edit: Everyone made it safely to shore.

 

[RichardS]

I can only see a white box.

Richard

 

[Andrew E]

I can only see a white box.

Richard

Try this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Isufp-6fudo

 

[RichardS]

Try this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Isufp-6fudo

That's much better .... but I rather wish I'd not seen it.

I would imagine that the boat was seriously smashed. It looks as if the jib sheet was caught at the bottom of the mast so they couldn't set it properly and had no chance of getting away from the pier. Perhaps they had no engine?

Richard

 

[Georgio]

that was horrible to watch, as suggested it looks like the jib sheet was stuck. hope all ok, anyone know the outcome?

Edit - now watched in youtube and the comments say that all crew were ok. blimmin' scary

 

[MoodySabre]

That was scary but I can't help thinking that they shouldn't have got that close to a lee shore (the pier) in seas like that. It may have been sudden engine failure and a snagged line but even so....

 

[rwoofer]

Scary indeed.

Given the situation I would have found another sheet from somewhere (mainsheet?) tied it to the jib and trimmed it properly. Hitting the shore would be far less risky than that pier.

 

[prv]

Perhaps they had no engine?

It looks like the sort of sporty little boat that carries an outboard in a locker.

Pete

 

[colhel]

I wonder if they were reluctant to call for help for fear of giving yachtsmen a bad name

 

[dom]

I wonder if they were reluctant to call for help for fear of giving yachtsmen a bad name

Ooh, a perfectly composed killer one liner. Excellent! :encouragement::encouragement:

 

[Capt. Clueless]

I'll stick to my leisure sailing on Lakes.

 

[Lon nan Gruagach]

Longer video showing more before and after...

Looks like quite a lot went wrong, boom dropped and mainsail in.. a mess, jib way out of control. making nay way upwind in that state would be almost impossible. A lifeboat/ patrol boat arrived just a few minutes too late.

 

[RichardS]

When I said "boat smashed" in post #4, I didn't really mean that smashed!

Richard

 

[Dutch01527]

Easy to judge from my sofa but why not run another jib sheet back to cockpit winch to give some steerage way and drop anchor to hopefully arrest drift? Difficult to understand what happened to the boom and main sail. Main halyard parting? Compounded by a engine failure?

The crew seemed pretty passive given the danger. Maybe an inexperienced crew and skipper?

 

[Motor_Sailor]

It also illustrates the devastation that a breaking wave that's only about the same height as the beam of a boat can cause. The research highlighting the danger of these quite small breaking waves was done at the Wolfson Unit for the RCD research, but that's about the best illustration I've seen of the effect for real.

 

[armchairsailor]

That was terrifying. They must have got the lines utterly snarled up. Glad everyone was ok.

 

[Mandarin331]

Thàt pier runs parallel to the shore in a curve , so even if they'd cleared the 'end' they would have piled onto rocks which might have been even worse. I guess they dropped the main as it looks pretty windy and something went wrong with the jib on a lee shore with Pacific rollers piling on. Sadly they are only a couple of hundred yards from the harbour entrance. Horrible to watch.

 

[oldharry]

Just shows how quickly a minor problem can turn in to a full scale disaster.

 

[jwilson]

Never go aground with an anchor left on board....... ?

Even if the anchor only slowed the drift it might have given time to sort out the sails. And it could have been left/buoyed or just abandoned once sorted. I'm afraid the prior faffing about looked more panic and less competence.

 

[KellysEye]

If he had had a main up he could have easlly steered away but it looks like the boom was gone, the alternative was tigten the foresail and reach away