wasn't this likely

MrBill_FLL · Oct 15, 2013

slow hands!

as a hobie sailor, it sure looked like that could have been avoided.

Johnb · Oct 15, 2013

Drive like lightening, crash like thunder.

MrBill_FLL said:
slow hands!

as a hobie sailor, it sure looked like that could have been avoided.

Could it be that once he got over about 30 or 40 degrees up he lost steering? Looking at the clouds in the background, the direction did not change much so either he didn't or couldn't turn into the wind. Merde.

Winkfish · Oct 15, 2013

That link took me to a football player running into a cheerleader.

Sailm8 · Oct 15, 2013

I agree, rudders lost their bite and he was screwed. If he can flip so easily in those conditions he will never make it around the world. The amount of vigilance necessary to sail that boat would be nearly impossible to maintain in my opinion. I could flip my Prindle 18 in a moment of in attention.

Scott T-Bird · Oct 15, 2013

These are people who obviously have no regard for the cost of damages. I think they have as much regard for safety and the expense as a normal person would have for capsizing a Hobie.

The mast obviously snapped off eventually as she was turning turtle. The smiles and casual demeanor showed a total lack of regard for what could have been 10's of the thousands in damages not to mention the injury.

These are people who obviously don't have the same concerns as most of us ... they are people with money to burn ... I have no sympathy for them when things go wrong.

MrBill_FLL · Oct 15, 2013

I steered, then I would have dumped the main.

never saw the main release pressure....

something must have jammed -even as it hits the water the main is tight.

noanker · Oct 15, 2013

if the name fits......wear it

StinkBug · Oct 15, 2013

I was watching the whole time waiting for them to release the sheet.....and they never did. There's 2 things to do there, turn up, and sheet out. They may not have been able to do one, but why not the other?

LooseDiamond · Oct 16, 2013

Whatever happened, it was not Jean-Pierre's first day on a sailboat!

Claude L.-Auger · Oct 16, 2013

Loss of steerage as the main hull lifted out of the water, equipment break, like every one here I don't understand why they didn't dump the main or steer up. And obviously thinking of the cost associated with all that damage is beyond my comprehension. But let's not forget that Jean-Pierre Dick is an experienced sailor and that he is training for a round-the-world record trial on that boat. It was sea trial time and they have to find out precisely what the boat can take and endure. Money is not the issue on those ventures.

shemandr · Oct 16, 2013

Does anyone else suspect this was a stunt gone bad to publicize his voyage? Why was the helicopter there and filming? Wasn't there a chase boat? There was another instance of an offshore racing sailor nearly capsizing his boat while he was being filmed in the last year or two. That aroused my suspicion. Now this. Maybe I'm too cynical but they're after sponsorship money and the sponsors want eyeballs watching. Why wasn't the mainsheet released when the main hull first left the water? Not enough drama?

woodster · Oct 16, 2013

shemandr said:
Does anyone else suspect this was a stunt gone bad to publicize his voyage? Why was the helicopter there and filming? Wasn't there a chase boat? There was another instance of an offshore racing sailor nearly capsizing his boat while he was being filmed in the last year or two. That aroused my suspicion. Now this. Maybe I'm too cynical but they're after sponsorship money and the sponsors want eyeballs watching. Why wasn't the mainsheet released when the main hull first left the water? Not enough drama?

i have to wonder if the prop wash from the chopper had anything to do with it ...maybe they didnt account for that......

regards

woody

IH82BL8 · Oct 21, 2013

+1 on the main sheet. Better to lose a couple of seconds in the race than to lose the entire vessel.

Jackdaw · Oct 21, 2013

J-P Dick is one of the best sailors in the World. The MOD 70 is like no boat 99.9% of us have ever stepped foot on. I think that the owners of 20 foot-ish keelboats pontificating on what he should of done is rather funny.

Ross · Oct 21, 2013

The most important factor in winning a race is finishing the race.

IH82BL8 · Oct 21, 2013

That's a valid point. I'd like to learn from what I saw if I can. Why didn't one of the best sailors in the world have his vessel under adequate control to avoid complete catastrophe?

Big Windy · Oct 21, 2013

I sat here watching, telling the computer screen..."dump the main, dump the main, dump the damn main!"

capta · Oct 21, 2013

Last week I went to their web site and there were quite a few pics from this vid on there, but not the capsize. The boat sails w/ a crew of 8 or 9 but I could only see 2 onboard for that vid.
I believe it was a very expensive attempt to get some dramatic pictures and completely planned.
The capsize could have been avoided right up until the last few seconds by just releasing the sheets, IMO. This boat and about 12 others raced transAt in less than 5 days; it couldn't possibly be as tender as this vid implies it is.