Although the one in the video was correctly angled with bow to the waves, what was the guy doing in the bow? I assumed at first he was attaching a rope, but all he seemed to be achieving was adding weight to the bow! The only option once swamped was to get a line to the beach and pull her in - which they seemed to do eventually, but the guy in the water in LJ at the bow was lucky not to get his head smashed in at one point No boat's worth killing yourself for!
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I view the boat as the best refuge in the event of an accident as it's a much bigger visual target and on that basis, the longer it floats the better the survival chances.Yes, I thought that too - the boat itself was pretty 'full' in term of water!
There have been a couple of Fletchers swamped along the coast here over the last 3-4 years and neither sank for the same reason. I've looked into this in some detail because I'm rebuilding an Arrowbolt currently and it really does seem to make quite a difference in terms of time available to recover. Worryingly a lot of the American sportsboats I've seen recently appear to have no buoyancy with open frame arrangement under the sole? I'm looking upon mine on the basis that every unusable bit of space that can be filled with buoyancy can't then fill with water and in such vessels I think this can give you the edge in the event of a rogue wave etc. AndieMac kindly sent me some links on buoyancy requirements/testing etc in Tasmania a few years back and it made interesting reading! As well as under floors, I'm also looking to use sheets of preformed foam in behind the gunwales etc. If I can reduce the space available for water by 15% then I'll be happy! Also looking to infill the above waterline voids too as, done right with a low centre of gravity, this should turn a capsize into a self-righting roll... And no, I'm not planning on testing that aspect!
