Yacht sunk on way to Scottish Series

[SilverBreeze]

The well known Irish sail maker Philip Watson has lost his Hanse 371 Megawat this morning en route from Howth to Tarbert for the Bell Lawrie Scottish Series.

The boat sank off Bangor, Northern Ireland following a "problem with the rudder" according to an Irish Sailing Association release.

Watson and two crewmates were rescued by A Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 54 Quite Correct from the National Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire, which delivered the three into Bangor.

Slim BBC report here.

ISA release here.

Philip is one of the good guys and I'm glad he and his mates are safe and sound.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Some rudder problem to sink a boat!

Glad they got away with it.

Any one got chapter and verse?

 

[Sybarite]

Is he a forum member?

Philip Watson sounds a familiar name.


John

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Bit worrying

From ISA report...

...and the life raft failed.

Just as well there was another yacht nearby.


A bad week for boat losses. First a trimaran pitchpoled on Saturday, now a keelboat sinking. Fortunately noone hurt in either incident.

 

[steve_l]

Heh heh, I had a "rudder problem" once on a chartered almost new Bav35 from a well known company in Gosport...
Ist day out there was water sloshing about on the cabin sole when the boat was heeled. Checked it was salt! Pumped it out, checked the thru' hulls, all looked ok, nothing obvious to see.
By the time we were moored up in harbour that evening the water had returned!
So everything was checked from stem to stern.

Eventually found the problem after removing the the aft cabin wall and crawling in... interesting feat to perform!
The 2in rudder stern-tube had risen about 1/4 inch out of its moulded boss and was weeping quite nicely! So it was twisted back down into place and the whole caboodle taped up with duck-tape (mine, not from the boat, always take a few "spares" of my own on a charter boat!) and it behaved itself for the rest of the charter, although it was frequently checked!

When the boat was returned and the problem and fix was described, the return comment was something along the lines of "Nice that you found that. We've been wondering where the water was coming from although the agent had tried to fix it but couldn't find the source!"

If it had failed catastophically, that would have been a 2in hole under the waterline and a devil of a place to get to quickly.

Lessons learnt? Not sure really. How far do you go when checking out a charter boat? Boat was almost new and evrything was in it's place.

On the subject of charter boats, had another one once (Ben331) where the nut under the goose-neck swivel dropped off just as we moored up alongside the quay in Poole after surfing into the harbour! Luckily it came to rest on the toe-rail (50/50 chance hole or metal).

Now I have my own boat and it's hauled out every winter and the mast stepped I don't have so many worries /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif)

-steve-

 

[Sans Bateau]

I have heard, as yet to be confirmed, that the boat hit something underwater, it was that which caused the damage to the rudder and surrounding hull, leading to the sinking.

Phillip Watson, whilst devestated at losing his yacht, was more upset by the fact that the liferaft failed. (is yours OK?)

A team from Hanse are investiagting the 'rudder failure'.

 

[Dyflin]

Re: Bit worrying

Actually "the liferaft failed" is incorrect. No liferaft problems at all I believe. I was listening in to Belfast CG and it sounded like a text book abandonment and recovery. Well done to crew of 'Quite Correct' (Jeaneau Sun Odyssey 54) from Dun Laoghaire.

 

[Stig]

Full report with photos at www.hyc.ie

 

[webcraft]

Philip Watson repaired our genoa for us last year in Howth when we arrived with it split most of the way down the leech. He took time off from working on his own boat to do it, and he did a lot more than we asked for a lot less than we expected because he knew we were poor and had a long way to go. He recut the leech on his own inititative to take the hook out of it as well, , and it's still a great powerhouse a year later, old and worn though it is.

Definitley one of the good guys . . . Kathy and I are very sorry to hear about the loss of his boat.

- Nick

 

[powerskipper]

There are people out there who I think deserve recognition, but rarely get it.

Unsung hero's as such. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Dyflin]

Re: Bit worrying

I stand corrected, the liferaft failed miserably!

read the report and see the photos here at
http://www.hyc.ie/news/newsview.asp?newsid=285

 

[Vara]

Re: Bit worrying

What was the make of liferaft that failed to inflate properly in the PBO or was it YM test?