Cowes Week Yacht Hits Bulk Tanker

[perchance]

Originally Posted by mbianka

Wonder what happened to the guy who jumped off before the boat hit the tanker? They are just lucky they were not rolled by the tanker otherwise they might have been trying to hold their breath for a LONG time under the tankers hull.

More than likely they would have been sucked through the screws.

[senormechanico]

I would think the reason he lost his wind is because of the height of the ship.
You don't get much wind when you're right next to a steep hill like that.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Vasco

I know we're supposed to be nice but there's only one word for the skipper.....idiot!!

I disagree. I can think of lots more words for him....

[Unicorn Dreams]

Maybe to much Guinness and he didn't see the tanker because it was painted in ocean camoflauge.

[Butler]

From someone who sails in and out of L.A. Harbor frequently.- IDIOT !endangering lives. What part of a huge ship bearing down on you don't you get? The best I can think is that he or she was far from their quiet little local bay and hadn't a clue about how quickly these ships can catch up to you regardless of how slow they can appear to be moving.

Along this line, I once witnessed a powerboat coming up the main channel near Fishermans Village on a crowded Saturday with a large tug driven fuel barge bearing astearn. In spite of the busy location nobody could be seen on deck on the power boat. At a fair distance but with traffic making it hard to maneuver the tug blasted 5 times, no response, another 5 times... still nobody on deck, the tug managed to slow,other boaters caught on and made room and the tug/barge was able to swing out and around to port to get by. Nobody ever came up on deck until it was time to put some throttle on closer to The Gate.
Yeeehaw!

[David M]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Moron.

Don't know about Cowes, but if racing in SF bay I believe that he would have been DSQ even if he had made it across the bow without a collision.

Pity the pilot and watchkeeper and skipper on the oiler -- I am sure that they were not happy campers while this was going on. Personally, I hope that his insurance company stiffs him... otherwise his intractability helps raise the rates for more conservative sailors.

Jim

This is true, I used to work the race committee during the Big Boat Series and we would DSQ any boat that came even close to doing that. If a competitor got five blasts, we would consider DSQing them.

[David M]

Originally Posted by tartansail

Since we're supposed to be nice here on CF, I won't comment on the sailboat captain's judgment and seamanship.

I am interested in what is considered a safe distance to cross the bow of a large commercial vessel. In particular, I'm thinking about crossings outside harbors. I've generally felt that 1/2 a mile was OK for a ship going normal speed in coastal situations and more like a mile offshore. When in doubt, I cross astern. I got a couple of blasts on the horn from a ship in the Gulf of Maine last year when I crossed with what seemed like a reasonable safety zone. What do others use to determine whether to cross the bow or change course and cross astern?

Safe is not really a matter of distance. Safe is calling the master, mate or pilot and agreeing to a passing plan well ahead of time if you are considering crossing their bow. If you have any doubts whatsoever then go astern....so it might take you an extra five minutes to get to your destination. At least you know you will get there.

[Capt Phil]

Good point, David M... I should have mentioned the importance of comm's during maeuvering in close quarters such as harbors, fairways and ship channels. On a day such as the one of the Cowes Races, a concise description of your vessel will help the pilot with whom you are trying to communicate identify which boat is yours, such as...'we are the sailboat off your forward starboard quarter flying a red spinnaker... will pass astern of you.' Capt Phil

[cwyckham]

Originally Posted by perchance

More than likely they would have been sucked through the screws.

No fatalities in the incident. I don't even think there were major injuries

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by David M

Safe is not really a matter of distance. Safe is calling the master, mate or pilot and agreeing to a passing plan well ahead of time if you are considering crossing their bow. If you have any doubts whatsoever then go astern....so it might take you an extra five minutes to get to your destination. At least you know you will get there.

While I agree with your approach to the situation, my experience is that nothing could be more unlikely in such a racing situation... even if the skipper of the race boat had heard of such a procedure!

And in this situation, I don't think that there is need for working out an agreement on a passing plan. Everything is simple and spelled out in Colregs: the sailboat WILL avoid collision by altering course or speed. Too bad he didn't do either.

Cheers,

Jim

[daddle]

It's nice nobody got hurt. So it's almost funny. Heh. But shouldn't the thread be "Tanker hits yacht". The way it is it's like "Pedestrian hits bus."

Bit of bad judgement on the sailboat tactician. The biggest longest ships are not actually very wide. There's plenty of breeze. Given a tiny bit of smarts that sailboat could have sailed the 30 meters out of danger, a few boat lengths, in a few seconds.

[sestina]

In The Solent, there is a moving prohibited zone that extends 1,000m in front of the ship. There would have been a pilot/guard boat ahead of the ship too. These rules have been in place for many years.

Maybe the yacht didn't see the ship, maybe the ship ought to be painted a brighter colour?

[Factor]

The skipper was merely doing his bit to help our species evolve.

[smurphny]

Originally Posted by tartansail

Since we're supposed to be nice here on CF, I won't comment on the sailboat captain's judgment and seamanship.

I am interested in what is considered a safe distance to cross the bow of a large commercial vessel. In particular, I'm thinking about crossings outside harbors. I've generally felt that 1/2 a mile was OK for a ship going normal speed in coastal situations and more like a mile offshore. When in doubt, I cross astern. I got a couple of blasts on the horn from a ship in the Gulf of Maine last year when I crossed with what seemed like a reasonable safety zone. What do others use to determine whether to cross the bow or change course and cross astern?

A couple of weeks ago, a large oil tanker overtook me in LI Sound, east of the Northville platform, where I assume he was heading: 5+ mile visibility, calm sea condition, motoring at 6 knots, not in a restricted channel. I saw him approaching miles before he passed me. The only signal he gave was one long blast when he was VERY close, within 1/4 mile. I assumed, since he signaled with one blast that he was indicating he was passing to starboard (even though one SHORT blast is the inland signal). Well, he passed within about a hundred yards, to PORT! What an idiot. Way too close, wrong side, incorrect signal.
Tried to raise him on VHF to no avail. Where do these guys get their license to get behind the wheel of a tanker? I would not assume fault of a sailboat because of the "professionalism" of a tanker captain.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by sestina

In The Solent, there is a moving prohibited zone that extends 1,000m in front of the ship. There would have been a pilot/guard boat ahead of the ship too. These rules have been in place for many years.

Maybe the yacht didn't see the ship, maybe the ship ought to be painted a brighter colour?

Spoke with friends yesterday who saw the incident and that the yacht ignored the pilot boat in front of the tanker

The crewman in the water was lucky not to end up in the tug behind the tanker as was the yacht.

Anyone got a spare mast, a pink spinnaker and a large bucket of gelcoat for sale?

We and a couple of other yachts crossed in front of Cowes on Sunday afternoon and had to give way to the cruise Ship Oriana on its way out of Southampton. We all stayed well inside her turning mark on the edge of a major sand bank just to be sure she couldn't get us.

Pete