Yacht wrecked on North Kent coast

Cantata

Cantata

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Sad sight on the beach here at Herne Bay this morning.
A (reportedly) 4-week-old J133 on passage from Ramsgate to London went onto the Hook Sand off Reculver in the early hours. Lifeboat attended and got a line on, but it seems the keel of the yacht came off, she started to fill and then capsized. Both crew taken off by helicopter (which very fortunately was on scene at the time) and are OK.
Boat was washed up on the beach here at half flood and lay on her side pounding on a breakwater.
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After the tide turned, the seas increased for a while and she was knocked round, and came upright exposing the damage.
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Sad remains shipped away on a truck as darkness fell this afternoon.
How? Why? You may ask....
Inspection of the tide table suggests that the skipper was perhaps unwise to try this passage at this stage of the tide.
 
That is awful whatever the cause. They were lucky to get picked up quickly.

I showed my wife these pics (mistake) - "That's why I don't like you hopping across sandbanks":(

I hope that my keel would be less vulnerable than that. Anyway that's what I told her.
 
From the J133 website.

Unfortunate choice of words about its construction. At least I know my interior isn't held together by 'No Nails'! But in fairness, plenty oftraditionally constructed yachts have ended up the same way on the sands. I think with a keel like that though I would be going nowhere near the Hook. But then I am inherently a coward. I can only imagine how cold it was as well.

"SCRIMP Construction
What’s Unique About SCRIMP Construction?
Tests conducted by the US Naval Surface Warfare Center at Carderock, MD established that the properties of laminates produced by the patented SCRIMP resin-infusion process are superior to low-energy pre-pregs used by many custom boat shops and twice the strength of hand lay-up. In our judgment, SCRIMP construction greatly reduces the chances of warranty claims due to laminate failures resulting over time from pounding into waves and/or rig tension or ballast loads."
 
Its a it accademic to talk about construction methods when the keel has been torn out of the bottom. Deep fin keels with very small attachment areas to the hull are heavily loaded & will fare badly in a grounding.
And the RCD was supposed to make boats safer, there seem to be a lot of modern boats with keels droppng of!
 
Keith 66 said:
Its a it accademic to talk about construction methods when the keel has been torn out of the bottom. Deep fin keels with very small attachment areas to the hull are heavily loaded & will fare badly in a grounding.
Click to expand...

I had a peek at the website for the J133 and that's what I was thinking, with a 7ft+ draft and a relatively narrow contact area with the hull. The forces must be pretty great in a grounding situation.
 
Maybe the skipper was relying too much on his position on the plotter, and cutting it fine in the predicted depth department? Moving sands an all.

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Just read Cantatas' report on another post. Horrible situation to get/find oneself in. Yup, its only a boat. Lets hope after only 4 weeks he had got round to arranging some insurance.....
 
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