3 ARC boats divert to Cape Verde with damage/injuries

[KDH]

Haven't seen this on CF so my apologies if the google search was incorrect.
ARC dismasting and rudder failure | Yacht News | Yachting World

The ARC, despite delaying the start, appears to have run into a bit of trouble.
I guess they may be adding the rudder post to their inspections list.

[careka]

Here is more info.

Mareritt i Atlanterhavet : Seilas.no

use googel translate to read it in . or press your flagg on top of the text and choose .


---------
Short info.
Lost rudder, no help from ARC, no help from Insurance company, drifted for 5 days.
Female harbour capt in Cap Verde did put up the chash needed for the tug to go out and get them in safe.
This is very bad for ARC..........
More bad for insurense company "Topsail"
But a big "ROSE" to the Harbourmaster , Johanna (30 year old) on Mindelo , Sao Vicente. Johanna did take here own money and told the tug to go out and get the boat back in safe......

This is not a good ad for ARC......... and now we know what Insurence company not to use.......

[careka]

Here is there Blogg

lotteogdag.com - www.lotteogdag.com

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by careka

Short info.
Lost rudder, no help from ARC, no help from Insurance company, drifted for 5 days.
Female harbour capt in Cap Verde did put up the chash needed for the tug to go out and get them in safe.
This is very bad for ARC..........
More bad for insurense company "Topsail"
But a big "ROSE" to the Harbourmaster , Johanna (30 year old) on Mindelo , Sao Vicente. Johanna did take here own money and told the tug to go out and get the boat back in safe......

This is not a good ad for ARC......... and now we know what Insurence company not to use.......

Does the ARC promise "hands on" help? (apart from offering co-ordination of the resources an owner can muster for themselves).......would be interesting to know why the insurance company refused to help as on the face of it the cost of a tow would seem to be less than the cost of a total loss (whether from sinking due to the rudder loss or folks onboard simply hitting the big red button and leaving the boat to the ocean).

Will also be interesting to find out if the harbourmaster gets her money back...........

[careka]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Does the ARC promise "hands on" help? (apart from offering co-ordination of the resources an owner can muster for themselves).......would be interesting to know why the insurance company refused to help as on the face of it the cost of a tow would seem to be less than the cost of a total loss (whether from sinking due to the rudder loss or folks onboard simply hitting the big red button and leaving the boat to the ocean).

Will also be interesting to find out if the harbourmaster gets her money back...........

Insurane company did not put up the money need for the tug to go out and get them in safe, the Habour master did it . and she did get here money back,
ARC did nothing to help them......
There was also o problem with the limit in the credit card. as they where asking for 6500 euros before doing anything at all..
and the boat was drifting towards the islands.

[goboatingnow]

People seem to think the ARC organisers are there to somehow hold your hand and other people think the ARC is for people who need " hand holding" nothing could be further from the truth. In the ARC aside from a weather routing service and a communications relay facility you are on your own. Help comes from other participants Your on your own out there ( A fact the ARC people repeatably state)

Dave

[skipmac]

Have to say I have never understood the benefit or attraction of ARC. From what I understand all they do is give you a list of safety requirements, inspect your boat, provide weather information and throw a big party at the arrival; all of which I can easily do myself.

For this service from what I can glean from the internet, you pay close to US$2000 depending on how many crew members. This fact seems to be very carefully hidden on the ARC web site as ten minutes of searching failed to turn up any mention of costs, but maybe I'm just to inept to find it.

Perhaps I just don't get it and there's some benefit that I'm not aware of.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Have to say I have never understood the benefit or attraction of ARC.

Perhaps I just don't get it and there's some benefit that I'm not aware of.

Fun.

It is fun.

It is great fun.

It is terrifically great fun.

[KDH]

During the Caribbean 1500 (which had just been purchased by the WCC, the same as the ARC folks) we lost our main steering and engine about halfway between Hampton and Nanny Cay, Tortola . If Andy Schell had not made the personal decision to stay behind, at his own expense, we would have had to rely on the marina or fellow 1500 boats in coordinating help to get through the cut and into the marina (we made it to right outside -under 1/2nm under sail). There was no charge from the marina but it was a zodiac with help from other 1500 sailors. We were able to get there BUT we still had a rudder although it did require 2 men, a rope and a winch to move the emergency tiller handle. It took a long time, in large swells and high winds to get that setup in place so I can well imagine how difficult it was to control their boat. An ocean going tug going out 35-65 nm would have fuel and labor expenses, plus a fair profit but the article states that the harbour master put down either $40,000 or, as stated above was it 6500euro? Either way, we will be checking with our insurer to see if emergency towing is reimbursable. As to the benefits of the ARC, the only benefit we got from doing the 1500 were the great people we met at the end- Andy, Dan and Sue, Matt and Karen and a few others that we kept in touch with all during our time in the Caribbean. During the trouble it was nice to be able to report to the other participants our position and just let someone know what was going on. Unlike these folks who received no response to their pan-pan, we received some verbal reassurance and suggestions from another boat in VHF range although not a rally boat (but no response from the Coast Guard). To stay in touch with the rally boats you had to use the SSB, which we were able to do because we only lost the propulsion from the engine and were able to still charge the batteries with the engine in neutral. Not sure from the article if these folks tried to contact other ARC boats via SSB. We also keep an emergency rudder system onboard which we now put in place for extended passages (it came with the boat, our boat lost it's rudder during the Newport to Bermuda race under a previous owner). We had considered doing another WCC event but have decided there is not enough value returned on the very expensive fees.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Fun.

It is fun.

It is great fun.

It is terrifically great fun.

This does look like a wild and crazy party, but was it $2000 worth of fun? I think might be able to have even more fun than this for less.

Just imagine how much whipped cream you can buy for half the money.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by skipmac

This does look like a wild and crazy party, but was it $2000 worth of fun? I think might be able to have even more fun than this for less.

Just imagine how much whipped cream you can buy for half the money.

Many people spend much more money than you and I. Not only in cruisng but in general life.

A flat mate of mine (female) would only drink red wine if it was more than $40 per bottle... And she was near alcoholic... Another friend, also female, would only drink Dom at $90, in restaurants, per bottle.

To them $2,000 for 4 free booze parties is nothing.

Friday lunches even when the company isn't paying, can wipe out a months cruisng kitty for you or I. To them 4 lunches = 4 parties.

But if I had the money, sure it would be some fun things like that where the money would go

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by careka

There was also a problem with the limit on the credit card as they where asking for 6500 euros before doing anything at all.

This is about the only thing I have in common with the ARC racers.

Sure don't get these rudders falling out of high dollar boats. I wouldn't mind moving my spade rudder from current location, and if I do it'll be on the transom.

[Lagoon4us]

Realistically once on ANY ocean you are on your own,expect nothing from anyone, no one can demand or depend on SOMEONE coming to the rescue.

This is the problem with society ALWAYS people want to shift responsibility to someone else.

If i choose (as i have for 2014) to use ARC as a way of entering the Caribbean from Europe i expect no help from anyone, i'm there for the fun, the camaraderie BUT i make the decisions as captain of our vessel and am solely responsible.

As part of taking this responsibility I WILL help anyone i can, if in distress, to the point of turning back to assist WHATEVER. I've done it before and i'll do it again BUT i don't plan on anyone else doing it for me.

ARC do a great job of organising a bunch of likeminded people to enjoy a common interest, but once you slip lines it's YOU that's in control.

A million flowers to the Harbour Master a very real human, god bless her :flow ers:

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Lagoon4us

A million flowers to the Harbour Master a very real human, god bless her :flow ers:

[Lagoon4us]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Does the ARC promise "hands on" help? (apart from offering co-ordination of the resources an owner can muster for themselves).......would be interesting to know why the insurance company refused to help as on the face of it the cost of a tow would seem to be less than the cost of a total loss (whether from sinking due to the rudder loss or folks onboard simply hitting the big red button and leaving the boat to the ocean).

Will also be interesting to find out if the harbourmaster gets her money back...........

Agree totally David, all to often someone does a fantastic deed only to be rewarded with a loss, this Harbourmaster's name should be spread far and wide as a humane being, how many others would have acted that way, harbourmaster or not.

Cheers to her!!!!