Shockwave lost

[HinewaisMan]

Shockwave, the 80ft maxi, has been lost off Flinders Islet, NSW, Australia.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/mystery-surrounds-super-yachts-demise-20091010-grjy.html

While 16 crew were rescued, Skipper Andrew Short and Navigator Sally Gordon, both experienced and well respected Australian sailors, were lost.

Our thoughts go out to the families at this sad time.

Peter & Jean

 

[Deleted member 36384]

This is very harrowing to read the press release. Many people will read this and be quite shocked I am sure, that such good sailors are lost. God rest their souls.

 

[Alfie168]

Very sad news, but one has to be grateful that 16 got away safely, and applaud the rescue services.

Tim

 

[fishermantwo]

This accident occured about 40 miles from here. We have had attrocious weather all week. I went to work yesterday and it was still fairly bumpy then with left over swells. Very experienced sailors, only thing I could put it down to would be passing too close to the island, 4 metre keel and large swell. Boat just happened to fall in a hole at a shallow spot. Swell was 4 to 6 metres at the time and there was a dangerous surf warning current.

 

[ytd]

press report said they got into a death roll under kite. maybe, in trying to steer out they got to close, or accidentially surfed in too close. Island was a turning point in the race.

 

[bedouin]

I notice the report said that the surviving crew "scrambled" ashore rather than "swam".

 

[bilbobaggins]

The following from 'The Australian' newspaper....

"However, he has not ruled out the possibility there was a problem with the chart plotter device on board the state-of-the-art maxi-yacht. "It would appear there may have been a problem with the chart plotter," he said. "Chart plotters have been known to have an error at times."

This was confirmed by veteran ocean racer Duncan Van Woerden, who said yesterday he was once sailing to the Sovereign Islands, in Queensland, when his chart plotter located him on dry land.

"We were sailing from Tweed Heads up to the Gold Coast and through the Gold Coast seaway up to the Sovereign Islands," he said. "When we did turn north up to the Sovereign Islands, the chart plotter had us on dry land about 200m to the west."

There is no knowledge yet available that any kit malfunctioned. But 'something' didn't work as well as it should.

I'm thinking of the annual 'Round The Island Race' where the race committee, each year, remind everyone in briefings and in the Race Instructions of the remnants of the SS Varvasi lying just beyond the Needles Light. They even put temporary buoys there. Every year, professional navigators ( i.e. 'paid' ) go out there in RIBs, doing their own surveys, confirming their own visual cues, checking depths..... and seemingly every year someone in a big, expensive, fully-crewed racing yacht-with-professionals runs hard aground on the boiler. Then the 'pile-up' gets going, just like a motorway in fog! Doh!

Maybe that's why the press helicopters and the RNLI FAB lifeboat congregate there.....

Every so often, the sea reminds us that, for all the waving of risk assessments, method statements and RYA Yachtmaster ( Commercial ) certificates, it takes when it will.