Rogue-wave tragedy at the Farallons

[sarafina]

It's a distressing thought, but the Farallons are famous for their shark populations. Seems like recovery might not a likely scenario.

[susanna reiter]

The latest update from Lectronic Latitude has been posted relative to this matter. For those of you that are not West Coast savvy...go to Latitude 38...and then click Lectronic Latitude.. and updates..there are pictures of the vessel on the rocks and one of the crew just after passing under the Golden Gate Bridge...heartbreaking.....unfortunately no further recoveries from this tragic accident.

[savoir]

It must have taken a huge wave to throw the boat up so far.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by savoir

It must have taken a huge wave to throw the boat up so far.


Attachment 40041

not to mention this picture was likely taken at low tide and the boat went o n the rocks at high tide-IMHO

[sarafina]

The picture was undoubtedly taken at low tide, but she went aground just 2 hours after the low tide. And high tide wasn't for another 5 hours. But the winds were reported at 20 to 25 knots and the swell was at 10 foot with chop. That must have contributed to the final outcome.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by Paul Elliott

We are all in shock here in San Francisco, and I'm sure that we are all going to try to learn something from this tragedy.

Shock is the right word. I've connected with a few friends who raced yesterday, and the worst part of it for them was that they couldn't safely get close enough to assist without endangering their own boats as well.

I'm happy to see that the Monday-morning quarterbacking that Latitude 38 reported is taking place on some internet forums isn't taking place here at CF. We cruisers don't always understand racers, even though of us who learned to trim sails on the race course. The cautious rarely win sailboat races; risk-takers rarely make great cruisers. Tonight however, it's good for us to remember that we're all sailors, and that the sea can be just as unforgiving to cruisers as to racers.

[senormechanico]

With non diddled GPS signals and receivers being so cheap these days, why can't the future races require proof after the race of boats rounding a certain waypoint of a specified lat/lon safely to the West of the islands?
I think it would be a cheap, easy way to save future grief for everyone.

Flame away if you think this is Monday morning quarterbacking....

[susanna reiter]

Ocean racing is "woolly buggers".....not for the faint of heart...

[Astral Blue]

Perhaps I'm being a bit naive here, but the initial reports indicated the first wave hitting the boat caused a man overboard situation and subsequently caused the boat to turn around to respond and subsequently being hit by a second wave. Assuming initial reports were accurate, wouldn't being tethered in foul weather make the most sense? I'm surprised ASA rules or simply race rules for this particular route don't require this.

[meuritt]

I had the same thought about being tethered in. Checked it out with an experienced friend, a commercial seaman. Like many safety devices this one has its limits, according to him, he has seen the parts fail with loss of crew overboard and also seen internal injuries from big seas hitting some one well strapped in, causing broken ribs and internal injuries. However, it seems that this incident may well have been avoided if everyone stayed aboard the boat in the first place.

Nonetheless, I am planning to install a jackline system on my boat before I go out there.

[bazzer]

Not only obviously not tethered, but one of the photo's I have seen of the crew did not show all of them wearing PFD"s. Surely the use of a good off-shore PFD and Jacklines should be mandatory on this and other races?
The ClipperRace boats have one crew member whose job is "gatekeeper" who not only watches who is on the deck, but that they are tethered in. Excellent idea in my view.
Bazzer

[Uncle Buck]

Tethers may likely have helped prevent the initial MOB scenario, but in my opinion that's putting the focus/future prevention in the wrong place. They were clearly way too close to an extremely nasty lee shore (even in benign conditions it should be given a lot of space) with no margin for error. It's analogous to blaming an injury/death on failure to wear a seat belt when the cause of the car crash was reckless driving.

We all make the mistake of rolling the dice sometimes and hope we have luck on our side. In this case, sadly they did not. My condolences to the families of those lost, and best wishes to those that survived and have to live with it now.

[LakeSuperior]

Originally Posted by Astral Blue

Perhaps I'm being a bit naive here, but the initial reports indicated the first wave hitting the boat caused a man overboard situation and subsequently caused the boat to turn around to respond and subsequently being hit by a second wave. Assuming initial reports were accurate, wouldn't being tethered in foul weather make the most sense? I'm surprised ASA rules or simply race rules for this particular route don't require this.

Perhaps if you are really serious about saving lives you could propose limits for wind and waves. For example, the race could be called if the winds get up over 15 knots or the waves reach one meter. In this scenario I think experienced racers would be pretty safe.

I think experienced sailors know the risks and can plan accordingly with respect to their personal risk tolerance.

I for one don't need someone making rules for my personal safety. BTW, I am pretty conservative in safety practices on the water. However, that is my choice.

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

With non diddled GPS signals and receivers being so cheap these days, why can't the future races require proof after the race of boats rounding a certain waypoint of a specified lat/lon safely to the West of the islands?
I think it would be a cheap, easy way to save future grief for everyone.

Flame away if you think this is Monday morning quarterbacking....

The race instructions are quite simple. Round the Farallons and return. It is up to the Master of the boat to make the decision as to how close or far one stands from the "mark". At some point, one has to/needs to take responsibility for ones own actions/decisions. Your comments are similar to the Monday Morning Quarter-backing/Lamenting that went on after the Fastnet in '79. The race committee stipulates the marks. Period. Most race instructions today carry all kinds of disclaimers. Racing--in fact sailing--includes inherent/native dangers. If you can't handle it, don't go to sea. How hard is that to understand?

[Bash]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

It is up to the Master of the boat to make the decision as to how close or far one stands from the "mark". At some point, one has to/needs to take responsibility for ones own actions/decisions.

That's now part of the Racing Rules of Sailing. Rule 4, about the decision to race, specifies: 'The responsibility for a boat’s decision to participate in a race or to continue racing is hers alone."