Sinking Cats

[dejavu]

Thanks guys....LOL you guys are a riot! not looking to start a war over monos vs multis, just trying to decide which is best for me, and I was thinking that it might be possible to right a cat with a good dinghy...is that possible? Always had a mono looking at maybe getting a cat, but the whole flip thing bothers me and looking for a way around it.

[dejavu]

oh...heres my idea....drop an anchor to secure one hull....then take a dinghy and try to pull the other over....just dreaming or could that work?

[noreault]

Delicate operation ensures boat's safe return

Amanda Farrell, Times Colonist
Published: Wednesday, May 31, 2006 While the rescue of the Cat Sass crew after the boat capsized took 15 minutes, saving the catamaran was a much longer process.
The boat, which turned over Sunday during the Swiftsure Lightship Classic race, made a less-than-spectacular return to shore at the Port of Sidney Tuesday afternoon after a painstaking salvage operation.
Murray MacKay, owner of Sidney-based Advanced Subsea Services, a diving and ocean technology company, said his company's involvement began shortly after the distress call. "Right away, we were communicating with the coast guard and got in touch with the race officials for Swiftsure," he said.
MacKay and his crew worked with the coast guard and Swiftsure race officials as well as Marine Assist International of Vancouver. A coast guard auxiliary vessel whisked the boat's crew to safety within minutes of the 6:22 a.m. distress call. Marine Assist and Advanced Subsea got to work on the boat a couple of hours later.
The first step was to stabilize the Cat Sass so that it wouldn't drift too far out to sea. The Riptide, a utility boat from Sidney, secured a line on the catamaran in order to prevent it from smashing into nearby rocks.
Mike MacKenzie of Marine Assist said it took six to seven hours for the Voyageur, Marine Assist's large offshore rescue vessel, to tow the Cat Sass to the safety of Becher Bay. The fact that the sails, mast, and cordage were still attached and dragging underwater like a giant jellyfish didn't help much.
MacKay's and MacKenzie's crews set to work on removing the catamaran's rigging on Monday. The sails and cordage had to be removed underwater by divers. The boat was righted using what MacKay called a "reverse flip" technique. A rope was used to attach the side of the Cat Sass closest to the shore to the Voyager, and the side that faced the water was tied to a tree on the shoreline.
The Voyager then slowly pulled away from the shore, and the leverage it generated flipped the catamaran right side up.
After the Cat Sass was righted and its rigging secured, the boat was ready to be towed to Sidney.
Taken from the Victoria Times Colonist: Wednesday May 31, 2006

[Canibul]

OUch. that sounds expensive. But makes sense. I guess I would question if using divers to remove the rigging underwater was absolutely required. If you SLOWLY pulled the cat upright...wouldn't the rigging handle it? Maybe not.

Hey, if the insurance is paying..

[mikereed100]

Originally Posted by dejavu

what is the best way to right an upside down cat?

Many years ago, one of the better known designers (maybe someone can help me out here) launched his new tri upside down and then righted it by pumping water between compartments and using flotation at the top of the mast. Doubt this would be practical at sea but in flat water could work. Better to find a passing freighter with bored crew and a large crane.

Mike

[clockwork orange]

It is much more practical to right a cat, especially a net and tube cat like Cat Sass, with a bridle from the bows and drag it over backwards, it may require erecting an a frame off the mast beam to create a fulcrum to start the rotation, there is no need for divers as there is no need to remove sails or even release the sheets as they dont cause drag because they are moving through the water in the right direction. It really makes no sense at all to try to right them sideways.
Steve.

[schoonerdog]

someone had a picture of a chris white cat, I think an Atlantic 42 in Michigan, being flipped. Basically they rigged a bridle up from the bow of the upside down cat to a power boat sitting off the transom. The power boat then pulled away from the cat and the boat flipped bow over transom and was righted.

[s/v Jedi]

I think the best way would be to tow it to Oz where everything is upside down so that it fits in well... or may be it turns right side up when getting there??... hmmm... now I'm getting confused ;-)

cheers,
Nick.

[SailFastTri]

Originally Posted by clockwork orange

It is much more practical to right a cat, especially a net and tube cat like Cat Sass, with a bridle from the bows and drag it over backwards, it may require erecting an a frame off the mast beam to create a fulcrum to start the rotation, there is no need for divers as there is no need to remove sails or even release the sheets as they dont cause drag because they are moving through the water in the right direction. It really makes no sense at all to try to right them sideways.
Steve.

I second that point of view. Based on the way the operation was described above, there is no doubt in my mind that the salvage operation did serious damage to Cat Sass, far beyond what the simple capsize caused.

[clockwork orange]

Sailfast,a few years ago my son and i drove over to Cataragus,NY to look at the hulk of the 40ft racing cat "Great White" which had flipped in a doublehanded race on lake huron with the loss of both crew,we were interested in buying it,it had sustained considerable damage from the incompetent salvage efforts where they somehow managed to completly break the port hull in half at the mast beam,i believe they had tried to right it sideways. Schoonerdog described exactly the method i was talking about, strangely enough i think that boat was also named Great White,the method works without causing damage,a Jutson formular 40 cat was righted this way in Aus some years ago and was sailing the next weekend,what happens is the transoms naturally dig in as the strain comes on and start going down until bouyancy takes over and she just rotates over.
Steve.
Steve.

[clockwork orange]

Actually Sailfast tri, if i remember correctly you are in the pacific northwest so you probably know the Jutson cat i mentioned in the above post as Dragonfly i think ,she used to be known as "Simply The Best" in Australia before moving to Seattle.
Steve.

[dejavu]

all very helpful....thanks. It does make more sense to right one that way.
Dennis

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by dejavu

all very helpful....thanks. It does make more sense to right one that way.
Dennis

Yea, but I don't think the dink will do it.

[dejavu]

yes...that's true....maybe I will tow my ski boat behind me!

[oscar]

When they found it, the Privilege was motoring in circles with water up to a person's calf in one of the hulls. They fixed the leak, pumped the water out and returned it to charter base.

Wonder if they lost their deposit.