http://www.local15tv.com/news/local...Thanks-to-Runaway/TiNG7p_wUEacS97IJ9Ro5Q.cspx
Interesting that this could happen...
Interesting that this could happen...
Runaway Sailboat Causes Havoc at Dauphin Island
- Thread starter c130king
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Tell me no one, not the owner or the police had a knife? Even if the sails could not be dropped due to a jam, certainly the sheets could have been cut off and at worst the sails would have flogged themsleves to death. Of course the sails could also have been cut loose from the boom again reducing the likelihood of any power. There is more to this story...
My crew and I fell off our Laser 2 after a capsize in 15-20 knot winds during a race. We righted the boat and it got away from us ...with the chute up. It sailed a few hundred feet before it capsized a second time. We swam after it and righted the boat, then I held on to the rudder blade until my crew got aboard. We sure thought it was going to sail off without us. Oh yeah, we still won the race!
Amazing to me how few carry a knife these days. Years ago I was aboard a 35 footer, racing offshore off Florida, when we took a spinnaker knock down. The guy fouled when we blew it, and NOBODY else had a knife on them. I was in the cockpit and had to go to the bow and cut the guy. We had the spreaders in the water at the time. Not a single person on the fore deck could do it.
So no- being unable to cut the sheets doesn't surprise me at all. Sad, but true.
So no- being unable to cut the sheets doesn't surprise me at all. Sad, but true.
Watch the video. It was a 76 year old single male moving the boat away from the storm. Boat was grounded, sail was jam and CG got him off. The boat was Anchored as best they can but she broke loose in the night. The boat sail by itself.
Must be a pretty good design.
Must be a pretty good design.
Sometimes I wonder whether my boat could sail itself better without me at the tiller.
Still, it is extremely difficult to understand why they would leave the boat without bringing down the sails. One or maybe two might not come down, but all of them? Incredible, to say the least.
Still, it is extremely difficult to understand why they would leave the boat without bringing down the sails. One or maybe two might not come down, but all of them? Incredible, to say the least.
I guess when he was grounded and the wind push her to the side, the poor guy just don't have time or enough energy to lower the sail.
BTW if the boat is not into the wind, it is really not possible to "lower the sail". Try to furl in with 30+ Kt wind blowing on the side. You can't even release the heavily loaded jib sheet let alone all the sails.
We were in a 30+ kt down-burst once. Heeling at 35+ angle, you can't even reach the leeward side to let go of the jib sheet. All you can do is hang on to something hoping not to fall out. Ask me how I knew.
When the CG pick him up, they don't wait.
BTW if the boat is not into the wind, it is really not possible to "lower the sail". Try to furl in with 30+ Kt wind blowing on the side. You can't even release the heavily loaded jib sheet let alone all the sails.
We were in a 30+ kt down-burst once. Heeling at 35+ angle, you can't even reach the leeward side to let go of the jib sheet. All you can do is hang on to something hoping not to fall out. Ask me how I knew.
When the CG pick him up, they don't wait.
I am guilty of judging from a distance and from a comfy seat on land, for sure and I hope I'm sailing when I am 76.
Havoc on Dauphin Island
The wind is still blowing here, with occasional rain bands. At the time of the incident, it must have been an east wind, then southeast. I've heard no news about where the boat is now. The Mississippi Sound is very shallow, so any travel north will get this boat aground fast. I don't think anyone would be out yet looking for it. In our marina on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, we had a surge, but the boats were either hauled Sunday, anchored in the bay, or went up the Mobile River. The boats at the Fairhope Yacht Club faired well in their slips.
Tim
The wind is still blowing here, with occasional rain bands. At the time of the incident, it must have been an east wind, then southeast. I've heard no news about where the boat is now. The Mississippi Sound is very shallow, so any travel north will get this boat aground fast. I don't think anyone would be out yet looking for it. In our marina on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, we had a surge, but the boats were either hauled Sunday, anchored in the bay, or went up the Mobile River. The boats at the Fairhope Yacht Club faired well in their slips.
Tim
release pressure on sails by letting sails out then bring them in or reef em. dont need to go fully into wind. only works when someone is on board, tho---boat did good. sorry dauphin island...but that morgan did some sailing....
Well, for all of you who put down ketches, this shows you their value; mizzen & headsails balance very well, even without anybody aboard.
I know of unmanned boats that have sailed thousands of miles in the South Pacific over as much as 8 months only to ground on a reef and become a big mystery there until the story is figured out. Like the guy who fell overboard in the Marquesas while day sailing & his boat sailed onto a reef in Fiji.
Y'all should be VERY nice to your boats; they really do not need you and one day......
I know of unmanned boats that have sailed thousands of miles in the South Pacific over as much as 8 months only to ground on a reef and become a big mystery there until the story is figured out. Like the guy who fell overboard in the Marquesas while day sailing & his boat sailed onto a reef in Fiji.
Y'all should be VERY nice to your boats; they really do not need you and one day......
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