Trip Report - with heartstopping moment

[kcrane]

We decided on an early break, a family holiday outside school holiday time now the children are that bit older. Last week in June, first week in July. So we turned up full of hope last Saturday, ready for the off, aiming for the West Country.

Sunday morning we set off from Gosport in medium winds. There was lots of rain, but it was a short 'get back into the swing' sail down to Yarmouth.

We sailed the Solent in March, and it was glorious. In late June here we were in oilies and chilly. 'On The Rocks' in Yarmouth served up a great steak to cheer us up, but the foecast was poor, stormy weather with strong winds later. The trip to Weymouth was therefore on hold.

We stayed in Yarmouth Monday, and as the evening drew in the wind got up, blowing through the pontoons above 30knts. It unfortunately had some north in it so the harbour wall was getting quite a swell.

We were well on the walk-ashore and still bobbed around. Some poor devil had to move at 10:30 and had a heck of a job getting back onto a pontoon.

Tuesday morning was blustery, but dry and we set off, aiming for Poole. The sea was choppy passed the Needles, but by the time we got well into the Bay the wind dropped off, and we drifted while having lunch. 30 minutes later it picked up again, and gave us a good angle to Poole, so off we went at 7knts. 10mins later an alarm went off. The GPS had lost the fix just as the vis dropped. Out with the handheld and back to marking charts. Like old times (well, we still had the handheld). It wasn't DR and EPs.

Got into Dolphin with no problem. A check on the weather suggested we'd be better staying, given that it was a family holiday, not a survival course.

The marina staff were telling newcomers to beware, the wind was gusting through the pontoons. It was only 15kts, but I guess it is usually sheltered so near the town.

We were then asked to move by a flustered marina manager. He 0gave us a berth with an easy exit when I pointed out moving a cat in gusts isn't easy. An hour later a 100ft Sunseeker turns up and parks where we had just been turfed out from - seems we are low on the pecking order.

After checking WingGURU (recommended BTW) we reluctantly decided to give up on our cruise for the same reason others have already mentioned. If we did get a chance to move west, it might be to simply get stuck in poor conditions and then we would run out of time. Frustrating, but I think the right decision.

Today we set of back for the 40 mile run to Gosport. A lovely start to the day, a bit chilly, but a nice F4 up the bottom and a chance to use the gennaker. On the BB385 this is the same material as the genoa, so quite heavyweight, but much larger. We didn't bother with the small mainsail, not much point.

We were doing 7 to 8knts as the wind picked up to 15-17knts true, with gusts up to 20knts, and we got close to the western entrance to the North Channel in no time.

Just as we agreed to furl the gennaker there was an almighty bang and the gennaker halyard gave way at the mast head.

There was a Matrix moment as, in slo mo, we realised what was about to happen. The sail stayed up for what seemed like 10 seconds, then collapsed into the water in front of the boat.

We ran over it still going at 7knts.

At this point I have to pay credit to a family crew. No panic, just "Oh dear, what do we have to do?". Junior SWMBO went and got harnesses.

I said we were in a tricky position, a mile or two off a lee shore in a F5, rising F6. We couldn't use the engines with the sail and sheets under the boat. SWMBO thought to check SOG, and it was 0.5knts sideways, so we had a bit more time than I thought. We decided to try and fix it ourselves, and if we failed after 10-20mins it was to be a call for help.

We tried to pull the sail onboard. If you had told me the sail was anchored to the seabed I would have believed you, we could pull in 3ft or 4ft, then it just stopped.

We thought to attach the spinnaker halyard to the sheet attachment ring, and used the mast winch to haul on it. This got us some purchase, but now it wouldn't come in as it was under the boat.

This is where one safety idea becomes a safety problem. The shackles at the head and foot of the sail, where it attaches to the furler, were wired. I could only just reach them on the end of the short bowsprit. The boat was rolling in the waves and I sadly made a call to cut it free.

When I first started on this forum I was advised to get a good knife and keep it close by. The serrated blade on the Leatherman went through the tapes like butter. The sail almost immediately ran around, out from under, and trailed along behind the boat.

It felt like a lifetime, but only a few minutes had gone by and we were not visibly closer to the shore.

We then pulled the sail in bit by bit, letting the water empty as best we could. It took four of us quite a while and a lot of effort. My back is hurting this evening, though I didn't notice it at the time.

10-15 minutes later and the cockpit was full of wet sail, the sheets were removed and accounted for, and we got underway.

On the way passed Hurst Castle we surfed at 12.5knts, the quickest we have been in a sailing boat, though we were under engine at the time!

We are now back safely in Haslar, and the sail has been taken by the BB dealer who will get it repaired for us (good response from Multihull World).

Lessons:
We should have furled the gennaker earlier, in clear, open water.
I should have checked the halyard before setting off. My excuse is that it is only 2 years old, but still, I should have checked.
Always have a sharp, serrated knife to hand.
Have harness and lifejackets ready, even if not being worn.

Question:
Should we have called in at least a pan pan? I don't think we were in serious physical danger and our decision to try and fix it ourselves without giving others a problem proved correct in the end, but I have a feeling maybe we should have at least let someone know there was an issue.

Here's to better cruising later in the year.

 

[bobgoode]

Agee with you, no need for a Pan Pan at that stge. Always try the homegrown fix first!

 

[nigelhudson]

Interesting report, I'm glad that it turned out OK. Was there any reason why you didn't drop the anchor to give yourself more time?

 

[Sgeir]

Good post.

Any idea as to what caused the two year old halyard to fail?

 

[kcrane]

[ QUOTE ]
Interesting report, I'm glad that it turned out OK. Was there any reason why you didn't drop the anchor to give yourself more time?

[/ QUOTE ]

Good thought. The sail was right under the anchor (between the hulls) when I first went forward. To be honest I then didn't even think of it, would have worked once the sail was cut free and at the back of the boat. We weren't in deep water.

 

[kcrane]

[ QUOTE ]
Good post. Any idea as to what caused the two year old halyard to fail?

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah, an interesting question. Mark at Multihull wondered about it as well. The halyard was spliced and whipped to create a loop for the shackle. A neat job, but Mark reckoned the splice went a long way back up the halyard, about 12" or so, presumably to be sure it was strong. The downside is that although it wasn't overly thick, it was very stiff.

Mark is going to check if the stiff section reached to the turning block, and being much less flexible than normal, suffered a failure because of it. Just guesswork.

I'd also add that it is a big sail, and isn't used that often. It catches the wind even when furled. I think it may have taken a battering from the strong winds we have had over the winter. Not any one night in particular, just regular stretching and twisting, coupled with being stiff. Then when we stressed it in 20knt winds it blew.

 

[boguing]

Not completely sure, but I'd have thought that the North Channel was completely shingle - not a lot of chance of an anchor holding. I'd have done exactly what you did.

One possibility though. Don't know whether you have one or two engines. Putting the boat into reverse with a prop not likely to encounter debris would pull you clear of the sail and allow you to cut it free without any concern about running over it. You'll almost certainly turn transom to wind when you go into reverse.

 

[flaming]

Halyard snapping is not that rare. In 2 seasons racing we've blown every halyard on the boat in sucession. (main, then fractional kite, then jib, then masthead kite.)
This is certainly an occasion that having the main up would have been a big advantage. When we've blown kite halyards (J boat so aysmetric kites) the way it's been dealt with is to head up onto a reach, and keep the speed up to keep the sail on the surface, then trip either the tack or sheet and pull it in by the corner.
Last time it happened we had the other kite hoisted within a couple of minutes and only lost a couple of places.

Not having the main up meant when you stopped it sank and became heavy and wrapped itself up in the boat.

As to why they fail it's hard to pin it down, we've seen all types of failure, splice, shackle, mast exit point and (bizarely) a very clean looking break that would have been in the mast at about the second spreader level!

 

[bilbobaggins]

Worthwhile logging on for this good stuff.


/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[crisjones]

Good to hear that you managed to sort out the problem with your own resources and that all ended safely.

It always amazes me that a sail on a furler foil manages to slide down and out as easily as they do, I would have thought that when the sail is full of wind that the friction between luff cord and foil groove over the full length of the furler would be enough to keep the sail in place.

Even when taking a sail off intentionally if there is any breeze in the sail it normally takes a decent amount of pulling to get the sail down the groove.

However it seems from Captains report that the sail will come out very easily when you don't want it to - typical boats!!!

Anyway, I was thinking of a simple way of trying to ensure the sail stays on the foil even if a halyard breaks. I imagine that a jubilee clip around the bottom of the foil should be more than adequate to stop the luff cord sliding out and hence retain the sail on the foil, thereby giving you plenty of time to furl the sail before any problems ensue.

I will certainly be having a look at our furlers at the weekend to see if this a feasible solution - what does everyone else think?

 

[bbg]

I think in this case there is no luff groove - the gennaker furls around itself, not around an independent foil, so when the halyard goes there is nothing holding the sail up.

I agree with flaming that if a spinny halyard goes, you have to head up onto a reach immediately so that the sail is pushed to the side of the boat rather than in front. Perhaps impossible without the main up.

What this reminds me to do is to consider possible failures in the sails and rigging, and consider the immediate plan of action that should be taken. When a stay breaks, for example, what you do in the next two seconds could be the difference between saving the rig or not. Having to think about what you should do might lose you those two seconds.

To Captain - Good result and well done. "That which doesn't kill us ... " and all that.

Edit - to llamedos - just noted your last question. I don't think a jubilee clip around the bottom of the foil on a conventional furler is a good idea. First, as you say in most cases the friction in the foil will keep the sail up. Second, you might damage the foil - potentially making it impossible to get the sail down. Finally, you can be sure that if you do this, at some point you will need to get the sail down in a hurry, only to find a jubilee clip blocking your path! To me it sounds like a solution to a problem that doesn't exist, and a solution that is potentially more dangerous than the deemed problem.

 

[Channel Ribs]

A good account, thank you for sharing. I am delighted you got through it ok and that your family made you proud. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

As to the pan-pan, I think I would have. If things went badly wrong you would have already registered your situation and details with 'Bob*' and that would have made things much much faster if it came to crunch time.

Next to worse case scenario is that you fall in a bang your head, even with a harness on you are still going to be in dire trouble. Upgrading an exisiting pan-pan to a MOB would have got them moving from a running start.

* All Coastguard ops staff are called Bob, even the girls. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[crisjones]

Hi bbg,

I do know how Captains boat is rigged (I have been aboard) and I am sure that his gennaker is on a std furler rather than rolling around itself. So it seems that the sail slid out of the foil groove despite the friction.

I take you point about the jubilee clip possibly being a problem if you need to get the sail down in a rush!!! Perhaps a plastic cable tie would be a better soution - less chance of damaging the foil and easy to cut with a knife if you need to, but still strong enough to stop the sail starting to slide out if the halyard lets go.

 

[flaming]

When I've had jib halyard's go (see above) the jib has had to be hauled to the deck.
If his kite fell in the sea when the halyard blew then it definitely was not in a standard furler with a seperate stay.

Try it next time you're out. Whilst sailing, dump your jib halyard. It'll go about 3 foot then stop, and that's with a well lubricated racing sail that's removed from the furler after every outing, a cruising sail that's been there all season (or more!) may not even move at all.

 

[jezjez]

Not as catastrophic but more likely I would guess is a problem with furling systems that we had in a heavy weather situation.
The furling line of the furler passes through a metal eye simply chafes away with any serious weather. I have a quick peek on other boats and it seems most of them have a metal through hole in the L-shaped runner in front of the drum itself which doesn't have a plastic or other such protector meaning chaffing is pretty likely.
This seems a common set-up but I can't imagine why.