Vendee issues - lessons for us all ??

Memories of sittng in a pub testing another skipper about his knowledge of lights.

After a couple of goes he says - 'look if it has got lots of lights, you get well out of its way'.

If I get confused at what I am looking at in the dark this memory always nags at me! You do have to remember that even if both parties didn't have a clue what they were looking at, they could always refer to their radars.

I agree with Flipper - to me it looks like the fishermen were not looking where they were going (probably fishing), and Hugo Boss was also pre-occupied with something, also not keeping a watch.

If they had had their radar on with a guard zone (both vessels) this should not have happened?

Does Hugo Boss have an engine? Was there any wind if not? A racing machine like that probably does a similar speed to my max hull speed in virtually no wind, so presumably given a few minutes it could have done something?

Will be interesting to see the official report.
 
Fascinating how the professional fisherman is always assumed to be guilty.

Few months ago there was an accident on Sydney harbour in the early hours of the morning when a runabout collided with a dropline boat heading out of the harbour. Six people on the runabout died.

Young bloke, unlicensed, stole the boat, pissed as a nit, drove down the harbour at high speed and ran into the fishing boat that was doing about 6 knots on his way to work killing 6 people. No one hurt on the fishing boat. Media immediately blamed the fisherman for not keeping a good enough look out.

Court case started a couple of days ago and still the media are blaming the fisherman.

I have had several encounters with large yachts at night usually before and after the Sydney Hobart race. Delivery crews probably, but still these yachts are travelling at 15 plus knots and they often alter course to pass close by, probably to alleviate their boredom.

Boats lit up like Christmas trees may help merchant ships avoid you but at lower levels just ad to the confusion.

Just remember its not the case that week end sailors are always right and professionals are always guilty.
 
Bonjour
Another mast down on an open 60 !!!! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Loic Peron on Gitana 80 dismasted today in rather standard conditions (for the place they are) and sails !
Eric
 
This is just too much fun!

Aground.jpg


I guess you have to take risks to be competitive. But you won't win if you don't finish!!
 
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This is just too much fun!
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He entered in the Kerguelen bay with 45 kts of wind. he didn't succeed in slowing the boat, couldn't catch the boy and was catch in the weeds. It was a one shot try !

They were two on board and supported by divers and a zodiac !

They used a 800m line and a lot of person to tow him out of this situation.

The boat is heavily damaged and they will try and hoist it on the cargo!

Eric
 
Its all making me very sad:

Many Jesters will know that I am a man who's finances and emotions are very closely linked. Oh sure, I put a cheery face on when it is my turn to buy a round...But I am crying inside.

When I think back to all the graft and expense involved in preparing for JAC08. The loss of three months wages, and the current state of my overdraft as we wend our happy way into the regular annual Xmas consumerfest. I could weep.

The sight of all this expensive hardware being destroyed in ways that seem hard to justify is a bad thing I think:

Waste of money - too many hungry children in the world!
Image of the sport - the expense and carnage will convince people that ocean sailing is way outside their reach (setting back the Jester ideal)
Image of the Sport - This many accidents will most likely lead to more regulation, because the rule makers know best.

I'm sure you can think of more.

Bah! Humbug!
Paul
 
I have a problem with this race and don't follow it. From the web, it appears 13 of 30 boats are now retired. It is reckless, and the speed, strength and lack of a constant visual watch of these boats make them a danger to other vessels. It wouldn't surprise me if they could punch a hole in a ship.
It is a tolerated presumption to rely on the goodwill of taxpayers, shipowners and potentially the charitable lifeboat institutions to rescue us. The only way to preserve that goodwill is to behave responsibly.
If JCers were to cause such trouble, it would be the end of one of our cherished freedoms for ever.
It is an irony that this event is based in a country that regulates sailing. If anything, it should strengthen the argument for self reliance, but things don't always work out that way.
 
I fundamentally disagree with the contention that we should all go slowly, never develop our machines and take no risks; the function of racing is to see what is possible, achievable, within the limits of human abilities and unless there is a decision to ban racing this is what will continue happen, whether it is cars, planes, boats or people.
On the subject of constant watch, my boat jogging along at 4 knots with me asleep for short periods with no radar, AIS, See Me, or proximity alarms of any kind is arguably no less likely to hit or be hit by another vessel than an Open 60. For sure my speed and size would cause very little damage to another boat compared to a 20 plus knot Open 60, but the high levels of electronic aids, advanced state of fitness, experience and sheer bloody mindedness of the skippers not to mention the relative emptiness of the waters in which they spend most the Vendee makes the balance of probability swing in favour of such a race carrying acceptable risks.
The very nature of JC entrants and our boats means we are unlikely to cause any trouble thus not drawing attention to ourselves which is good,but a race such as the Vendee is a major international sporting event and as such, is a very different kettle of fish. If you think that a circum navigation should take 313 days and never be faster, fair enough, but the reality is that this is no longer the case, and a broken leg caused by hitting the back of a wave at 18 knots and being thrown onto the pulpit will be the kind of injury skippers of fast boats will inevitably suffer. As to self-reliance, with the exception of Yaan Elies, who has two other Vendee skippers standing by, both able if push came to shove to effect a rescue, who else has had to rely on outside help, at sea, this Vendee? The current boats are very different to Bullimore or Autissier's stable inverted platforms of a decade ago. The last time the Australian Navy came to the rescue of a Vendee competitor was in january ninety seven.
You may have sussed from this that I am a huge Vendee Globe fan, for me the ultimate expression of single handed ocean racing.
 
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