Search for missing solo yachtsman - IoW

The body was reportedly spotted by an observant watch keeper on HMS Brocklesby on passage to Portsmouth. She then stood by awaiting the Bembridge lifeboat. Is our 'modern' Navy now incapable of retrieving a body from the sea? Surely it whas not necessary to drag the RNLI crew from their work to carry out such a simple task?

I vaguely recall reading that in such circumstances the coastguard would ask you to recover the body if you feel you can do so, given the difficulties of standing by and keeping visual contact especially if the weather was rough or tides strong. I've always thought it not the most pleasant thing to do but if in that position I would try to do so if I could, I think it is the seaman like thing to do, taking advice from the emergency services at the time of course.
 
Hany Mustapha RIP

I met Hany in May on board a boat just setting off for a round the world trip. He was a friend of the owner and he spent most of one afternoon and night setting up the IT systems. This is very sad, he seemed to be a kind, funny and helpful guy. I can attest to his many business interests. He even had a snail farm in Tunisia!
 
I met Hany in May on board a boat just setting off for a round the world trip. He was a friend of the owner and he spent most of one afternoon and night setting up the IT systems. This is very sad, he seemed to be a kind, funny and helpful guy. I can attest to his many business interests. He even had a snail farm in Tunisia!

Didn't know him but agree with the sentiments. Just being into sailing makes him one of the good guys AFAIC.
 
Presumably where the body was found and the effects of tides and the wind on surface water over the previous days should indicate approximately where Hany went over the side. Initially there were various theories of this based on where the boat was found, now the body has been located does this shed any light on this sad event?
 
Presumably where the body was found and the effects of tides and the wind on surface water

Think that would be quite difficult to do. Tidal movements look more predictable on the page than they really are, as they are rotational vortices more often than the simplified vectors in the almanac. As for wind- how do you calculate leeway in this sort of situation? Not saying it's not worth making a rough effort to calculate but the sum of errors (not least a very poor understanding of the time from which to start calculating) probably precludes a conclusion from which you could draw much meaning, or comfort for the family.
 
Think that would be quite difficult to do. Tidal movements look more predictable on the page than they really are, as they are rotational vortices more often than the simplified vectors in the almanac. As for wind- how do you calculate leeway in this sort of situation? Not saying it's not worth making a rough effort to calculate but the sum of errors (not least a very poor understanding of the time from which to start calculating) probably precludes a conclusion from which you could draw much meaning, or comfort for the family.

Think the RNLI or CG, have a 'magic box', that they use to predict where a body might end up, or reverse to find where it went in.
 
Think the RNLI or CG, have a 'magic box', that they use to predict where a body might end up, or reverse to find where it went in.

yes I think they used something like that to find the crew of the fastnet yacht that lost her keel off the rock in last year's race. Dunno if it works so good several days after an event with an unknown position though.
 
It was possible to track the drift of the 3 crew of Ouzo to get a fairly accurate position for where they went in the water. I would think they should be able to work out a reasonably accurate position in this case.
 
Tragic. As someone who single hands a 19' boat there's plenty to think about. I still think I'd wear a helmet in seas like that, but I'm not sure the kill cord would work - unless it was about 19' long.

 
Top