Spirited 380 Lost in the Coral Sea

[Mr B]

Thanks for the piccy,

I am going to have to change my wave height guestimation,

Bloke on the deck is 2 metres, Deck is two metres above the water. = 4 metres.

I would have called that a 2 metre chop, If that is what every one calls 3 to 4 metres,

What size were the waves, I was actually sailing in, Now thats a scary thought,

Some of my waves were above the top spreader, I guessed 10 metres,

A lot of my waves were 5 to 7 metres, Sounds definately like I underestimated them if those are 3 to 4 metres,

5 metres on the nose. boat at about 70 degrees, No wonder I was having a hard time,

Cheers,
Brian,

[Ozbullwinkle]

Originally Posted by irc-racer

image attached doing the rounds, taken during the rescue. mild conditions, boat looks fine, genoa furled away neatly, mainsail tucked away in sailcover, storm jib is on inner forestay but not up??? boat floating fine??? hardly looks like a situation requiring abandomnent.

One of the issues that the owner of Minx reported in the initial post was that the sails were so damaged that they could not sail.

So, if this photo is proved to be genuine and was taken during the rescue then one would think that there would be more and possibly video as well then there is every likelihood that Minx will be found and hopefully reunited with the owner.

[irc-racer]

Originally Posted by Ozbullwinkle

One of the issues that the owner of Minx reported in the initial post was that the sails were so damaged that they could not sail.

So, if this photo is proved to be genuine and was taken during the rescue then one would think that there would be more and possibly video as well then there is every likelihood that Minx will be found and hopefully reunited with the owner.

It would be great to see the boat recovered and reunited with owner. I just cannot understand why a storm jib can be seen on deck ready to go but could not be used to get out of trouble? It sounds like the bigger issue was the boat taking on water and the threat of much worse weather coming that led to the decision to abondon ship. One can only assume they had been using the storm jib for a while already and just decided they had had enough, the boat was "sinking" and the threat of worse weather coming was too much to handle.

[Gene :^)]

In that photo above it has a sea anchor deployed off a bridle on the bow.

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Gene :^)
http://www.Strathbelle.com/

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by Gene :^)

In that photo above it has a sea anchor deployed off a bridle on the bow.

Having used one in a 50knot 12 hour blow going to New Cal on a 30ft cat, with larger waves than shown, I am surprised you would abandon.

Once the parachute was deployed all seemed very calm (in comparison) and we sat out in the cockpit having a few drinks as the sun went down, had a hot meal and a restful sleep ready for the next day.

[irc-racer]

and what about bailing out. I remember as a kid bailing out my sabot when it got water in it ... there must have been bilge pumps, even buckets!, a spare hose to syphen water out with, plug holes with bungs and cloths, seal off sections you were ok to let fill with water, etc. Keep boat afloat, sit out storm, put storm sail back up, or even wait for a tow back to shore (maybe a bit hard here, they were a long way out)... so many other options though.

[catty]

Originally Posted by irc-racer

image attached doing the rounds, taken during the rescue. mild conditions, boat looks fine, genoa furled away neatly, mainsail tucked away in sailcover, storm jib is on inner forestay but not up??? boat floating fine??? hardly looks like a situation requiring abandomnent.

Welcome to the forum irc racer. Nice first post? Can you tell us what the posted image is doing the" rounds" of? An office or a boat shed maybe?

I notice the OP stated " Yes unless Minx has been hit by a ship or run on a reef she should be afloat with her stern under water to the bridge deck."

Is anyone else thinking we haven't heard the full story yet.?

Regards

[Cookiesa]

Wow.. With the sterns so low in the water I can see why they abandoned.......... So low they didn't bother to reduce the weight near the stern.....

Fenders are nicely set up ready for rescue though, I could understand perhaps off loading crew for safety, if there was a passing vessel but those conditions, as pictured, with the vessel (assuming it is of course the veseel) hardly suggest life threatening. There was No cyclone, a possible one might develop in a system south of them heading in a south east direction within the next 24 hours (granted that can change quickly, very rare they then head north again though)

[irc-racer]

Originally Posted by catty

Welcome to the forum irc racer. Nice first post? Can you tell us what the posted image is doing the" rounds" of? An office or a boat shed maybe?

I notice the OP stated " Yes unless Minx has been hit by a ship or run on a reef she should be afloat with her stern under water to the bridge deck."

Is anyone else thinking we haven't heard the full story yet.?

Regards

an office, a boatshed, the whole marine industry, the owner's and crew's friends, all their friends... I brought the image to this forum to simply highlight the fact that we can sometimes rightly so blame the designers, builders, riggers, sailmakers, suppliers, etc., but there also needs to be the owner/skipper's and crew's responsibility to make informed safe decisions about the boat and their sailing plans and their need to maintain their boat to a standard applicable for their intended plans. Not to mention this thing called "seamanship"....

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by catty

I notice the OP stated " Yes unless Minx has been hit by a ship or run on a reef she should be afloat with her stern under water to the bridge deck."

Is anyone else thinking we haven't heard the full story yet.?

Regards

...Yep

[catty]

Originally Posted by irc-racer

an office, a boatshed, the whole marine industry, the owner's and crew's friends, all their friends... I brought the image to this forum to simply highlight the fact that we can sometimes rightly so blame the designers, builders, riggers, sailmakers, suppliers, etc., but there also needs to be the owner/skipper's and crew's responsibility to make informed safe decisions about the boat and their sailing plans and their need to maintain their boat to a standard applicable for their intended plans. Not to mention this thing called "seamanship"....

Thanks irc, yes, the design is only half the equation. Seamanship is often forgotten. Still doesn't excuse the engine hatch design/location.

By the way I haven't managed to locate that image on the net, so I'm thinking its from an AMSA FOI request. Any chance of you posting the video. Also can you shed any light on the Kangaroo Island S380 capsize.?

Regards

[irc-racer]

Originally Posted by catty

Thanks irc, yes, the design is only half the equation. Seamanship is often forgotten. Still doesn't excuse the engine hatch design.

By the way I haven't managed to locate that image on the net, so I'm thinking its from an AMSA FOI request. Any chance of you posting the video. Also can you shed any light on the Kangaroo Island S380 capsize.?

Regards

sorry I don't have a video, the image originally came from Jo and Jon of Minx themselves and I was on a long line of forwarded email recipients. Don't know anything about the S380 capsize at Kangaroo Island.

[Ozbullwinkle]

Originally Posted by catty

Is anyone else thinking we haven't heard the full story yet.?

Regards

Exactly and hopefully the owner of Minx will be up to posting his full account, that he said he would do, in the near future which should clarify a lot of things.

The photo posted by irc-racer does not match the description of the condition of the sails on Minx as described by the owner in the initial post which said they were so severely damaged that they could not sail with them.

So, I am just waiting to hear the full story from those who were on board Minx.

[justwaiting]

Originally Posted by Ozbullwinkle

Exactly and hopefully the owner of Minx will be up to posting his full account, that he said he would do, in the near future which should clarify a lot of things.

The photo posted by irc-racer does not match the description of the condition of the sails on Minx as described by the owner in the initial post which said they were so severely damaged that they could not sail with them.

So, I am just waiting to hear the full story from those who were on board Minx.

As the OP said "I will post an account leeding to the resque when we feel up to it David.
I do intend to write the whole story for pubilcation in the near future. "
If i was the OP having suffered the probable loss of boat and some of the posts, i would not publish it here, which will be our loss. I think that some of us may be reading information in to the photo that may not be there and for our own personal agends.

[Cookiesa]

The OP can very quickly clear that up with a one line message, yes that's us or Nope, wrong vessel, different occasion etc