Island Packet 420 Sinks Off CT Mooring

[Hoodsail]

Unfortunate event in our area recently when owner of a 2001 IP 420 tied up to local mooring off the Madison, CT coast here in Long Island after having sailed up from Barbados. Anchors chafed through mooring pendant and boat was forced onto rocks where boat lost its keel and sank. Had to look up and found that IP's keels are bolted on. Lesson - remove anchors from bow when away from boat when on a mooring. Pictures and additional detail via link below.

https://www.ctinsider.com/shoreline/...photo-24201605

[Maryscoty1]

Originally Posted by Hoodsail

Unfortunate event in our area recently when owner of a 2001 IP 420 tied up to local mooring off the Madison, CT coast here in Long Island after having sailed up from Barbados. Anchors chafed through mooring pendant and boat was forced onto rocks where boat lost its keel and sank. Had to look up and found that IP's keels are bolted on. Lesson - remove anchors from bow when away from boat when on a mooring. Pictures and additional detail via link below.



https://www.ctinsider.com/shoreline/...photo-24201605

That's a really unfortunate event! It's important to take precautions when mooring to prevent any accidents or damage. Removing the anchors from the bow when away from the boat is definitely a good practice to avoid situations like this. Thanks for sharing this lesson and Safety first! ⚓️[emoji305]

[rslifkin]

I'm thinking this was a case of keel smashed to bits causing water intrusion, not a loss of keel. Any Island Packet I know of has an encapsulated keel.

[Don C L]

Is removing anchors from the bow while on a mooring really a common thing?

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

I'm thinking this was a case of keel smashed to bits causing water intrusion, not a loss of keel. Any Island Packet I know of has an encapsulated keel.

Here's a different IP 420... sure doesn't look like a bolt-on keel to me.

[gonesail]

full keels are not bolted on.

[Knotical]

Originally Posted by Don C L

Is removing anchors from the bow while on a mooring really a common thing?

That would be a hard thing to do, especially if you have 2 bowers like this IP did.

Sad event.

[kenbo]

Originally Posted by Don C L

Is removing anchors from the bow while on a mooring really a common thing?

Anchors are usually removed if a storm is in the forecast. Chafe is quite common on anchors.

[chris95040]

Originally Posted by Don C L

Is removing anchors from the bow while on a mooring really a common thing?

It should be!

I remove my anchor for a strong storm. Even so, it's roller managed to scoop up one of my mooring pendants while hobby horsing and it chafed halfway through - now I remove the anchor roller, too.

[chris95040]

Originally Posted by gonesail

full keels are not bolted on.

I believe that hull shape shown is a "full keel with cutaway forefoot", exactly like my boat. And on mine, the ballast is indeed bolted on.

Everyone assumes it is encapsulated due to the shape, but just because the ballast is not fin shaped does not mean it isn't bolted on!

[Jamme]

Originally Posted by Hoodsail

Unfortunate event in our area recently when owner of a 2001 IP 420 tied up to local mooring off the Madison, CT coast here in Long Island after having sailed up from Barbados. Anchors chafed through mooring pendant and boat was forced onto rocks where boat lost its keel and sank. Had to look up and found that IP's keels are bolted on. Lesson - remove anchors from bow when away from boat when on a mooring. Pictures and additional detail via link below.



https://www.ctinsider.com/shoreline/...photo-24201605

From the article: “MADISON — A late summer storm Aug. 24 brought 25 mph winds and pounding waves to the shoreline, tossing a wayward sailboat atop the rocky shore near West Wharf Beach, destroying the vessel.”

25MPH (22 knots) hardly sounds like a storm to me. I was not in the area on Aug 24, was there an actual storm?

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by chris95040

I believe that hull shape shown is a "full keel with cutaway forefoot", exactly like my boat. And on mine, the ballast is indeed bolted on.

Everyone assumes it is encapsulated due to the shape, but just because the ballast is not fin shaped does not mean it isn't bolted on!

A full keel could have external ballast. However, Island Packet specifically mentions having internal ballast on every model I've seen mentioned (including the 420).

[chris95040]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

A full keel could have external ballast. However, Island Packet specifically mentions having internal ballast on every model I've seen mentioned (including the 420).

No argument there. Was simply correcting the claim that I deliberately quoted. [emoji106]

[jkishel]

The IP 420’s bow sprit is pretty long, placing the anchors far forward of (and above) the deck cleats that held the mooring lines. Unless the mooring lines were way too long it’s hard to see how they could have gotten fouled in the anchors.

[Hoodsail]

Originally Posted by Don C L

Here's a different IP 420... sure doesn't look like a bolt-on keel to me.

I was surprised to read that IP's keels were bolt on and given they are full keel, I would agree, probably not...I am looking for where I read they were bolt on, I think, "Life of Sail". So doing additional digging...thnks