60' Charter Cat; Moon Dragon rescue

[Sailing August]

S/V Moon Dragon was never meant to be sailed on the ocean. This vessel is designed and built for a gangster rapper or newly minted tech start-up millionaire that never intends to leave the dock. This vessel should only see open water when moving to another dock for said rapper or tech millionaire on only the calmest of days.......those sugar scoop platforms where designed for twerking.

[Student_Driver]

It would be very interesting to read a Coast Guard or other analysis after report. Are those typically issued for an incident like this? Am particularly interested in how both hatches failed. Seems systemic. Did water breach hulls before they gave way?

Major design flaw, most likely, as has been speculated above.

[JPA Cate]

The magazine article above suggests that it had quartz "walls", and teak floors. Neither are light weight construction media.

Ann

[Leighpilot]

😂. That’s gotta be written by ChatGPT or an ad executive who’s never been to sea.

[ogalili]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Have to admit I was really struggling to understand how a sailing Catamaran that took on water through a broken port, even on each side, could capsize.

Now I get it.

This is the boat, plus loaded up with an incredible amount of weight. A bit more like a deep draft barge with a small tunnel down the middle.

Not seaworthy in my opinion

Those are floating condos,
Can’t expect much

[Winston Smith]

I can tell you EXACTLY the conditions that led to this. Pressure from the "Delivery Company" to "get the boat to St. Thomas in time for the Charter Show". I was approached by the "Company" several months ago and turned the whole thing down. Race from Grenada to Annapolis "for the show", then race to St. Thomas "for the show". Weather be damned....get it there on time or you don't get paid. This company is starting to remind me of Reliance when they killed some crews on transatlantics for similar reasons. Here's the culprit https://www.delivery-captain.com/

[RedneckRedcoat]

Love how there is so much speculation with out knowing all the facts on this. With every man and his dog giving an opinion.

All the facts are was bad weather, some hatches broke and the boat sank before turning over. All 4 of the crew were rescued thank god.

Either way what ever happened it’s sad the boat was lost but thank god the crew were saved

[Montanan]

The grand staircases of the stern of this sailing vessel aptly remind me of a scene from Gone With The Wind.

Makes me wonder what the proper and fashionable attire is to wear while a board during a charter. There must be some big hatches to accommodate clearance for the hoops of the dresses.

[Laxlife]

Originally Posted by Tin Tin

A common saying is to avoid buying hull number one.


USCG report says 140m SE of Wilmington in 30Kn winds and 12ft seas,wonder what wind direction was v the Gulf Stream could have been nasty.
THE AIS name seems to be Moon Yacht, last Marine Traffic record was off Virginia 3 days ago.

A strong cold front crossed the mid-Atlantic coast beginning 48 hours before this rescue. Strong, cold northerly winds hit the warm, fast moving Gulf Stream headed north at 2-5 knots and created short interval, breaking seas. Look no further for a scientific explanation of the Bermuda Triangle mythology and sinkings.
Question: what was a Licensed professional Captain thinking taking any vessel into the Stream in these conditions? On-time delivery bonus perhaps?
Question: how did the owner get insurance for an offshore passage south of Norfolk during hurricane season? Few underwriters allow that passage until November 1st and many now use December 1st as the end of hurricane season.
We need more information on which “hatches” failed. The escape hatches both failed? That’s either lousy construction or perhaps the hatches were loosened during the boat show by a curious visitor. Ugh.
Or was it those giant, wraparound fixed windows? I think about the flooded hulls, low in the water, slowed forward progress, wallowing in 12 foot seas with a 5-6 second interval between tops, seas on the beam and waves breaking on those big windows one after the other, 10 per minute, 600 per hour for hours on end. Man-O-Man if those windows didn’t cave-in it’s a miracle and an endorsement of design, materials and construction. That she eventually flipped over in those seas is not surprising.
Law of the Stream: stay away in strong northerlies.

[rickwest]

Any cat owner not a rental should have plywood covers for both escape hatches and a battery powered drill ...if leaving sight of land
Every boat has points of risk
That was a power cat maybe loaded with equipment for luxury not emergency procedures.
Always good to hear about offshore rescues we all can have our situations...it's boating

[Winston Smith]

[QUOTE=RedneckRedcoat;3836206]Love how there is so much speculation with out knowing all the facts on this. With every man and his dog giving an opinion.

All the facts are was bad weather, some hatches broke and the boat sank before turning over. All 4 of the crew were rescued thank god.

Either way what ever happened it’s sad the boat was lost but thank god the crew were saved[/QUOTE

The Delivery Company was pushing the crew to leave..... as I mentioned in an earlier post, I turned this one down for many reasons but #1 was the schedule and penalty clause. See the attached email. That's at least one fact, and a prudent mariner wouldn't have been out in those conditions so there's 2 facts that set up the entire sequence of events.

[Tillikum]

Moon Yacht is a completely new quality in the world of catamarans. Our inspiration was the moon and its amazing power. Moon from the earliest times helps in navigation and allows you to maintain a good course. Its positive energy affects each of us. It improves and increases inner strength, and in us it triggered a new idea.
Our project is a response to the growing customer demand for spacious and specially personalized catamarans.

Sounds like the Feng Shui must be good though.

[RedneckRedcoat]

[QUOTE=Winston Smith;3836323]

Originally Posted by RedneckRedcoat

Love how there is so much speculation with out knowing all the facts on this. With every man and his dog giving an opinion.

All the facts are was bad weather, some hatches broke and the boat sank before turning over. All 4 of the crew were rescued thank god.

Either way what ever happened it’s sad the boat was lost but thank god the crew were saved[/QUOTE

The Delivery Company was pushing the crew to leave..... as I mentioned in an earlier post, I turned this one down for many reasons but #1 was the schedule and penalty clause. See the attached email. That's at least one fact, and a prudent mariner wouldn't have been out in those conditions so there's 2 facts that set up the entire sequence of events.

Then that was wise of you and yes I agree a prudent marina would not have been in those conditions.

[jsanton]

We’ve got a very heavy cat.
Rough seas that a prudent sailor wouldn’t take that vessel into.
And an observation that the escape hatches failed, flooding the hulls and capsizing the cat.
I propose it’s possible that the pressure on the escape hatches may have exceeded their design limit.

[Jim Cate]

[QUOTE=Winston Smith;3836323]

Originally Posted by RedneckRedcoat

Love how there is so much speculation with out knowing all the facts on this. With every man and his dog giving an opinion.

All the facts are was bad weather, some hatches broke and the boat sank before turning over. All 4 of the crew were rescued thank god.

Either way what ever happened it’s sad the boat was lost but thank god the crew were saved[/QUOTE

The Delivery Company was pushing the crew to leave..... as I mentioned in an earlier post, I turned this one down for many reasons but #1 was the schedule and penalty clause. See the attached email. That's at least one fact, and a prudent mariner wouldn't have been out in those conditions so there's 2 facts that set up the entire sequence of events.

Winston, thanks for your two posts. They give us (or me at least) some insight into the world of big-bucks charter yachting and the hazards associated for the folks who organize and facilitate the process. Kinda terrifying!

The terms of the offered contract were scary enough, but when coupled with the prose in their ad for the boat... well, I think you are a wise man!

Jim