In the Volvo race thread we discussed the Clipper 'pay-to-play' race. Here's a beauty. Less than 10 miles from the start of the Cape Town leg, in broad daylight, one of the boats was sailed straight into the shore. Boat's a loss.
Clipper Race fiasco
- Thread starter Jackdaw
- Start date
For sure, well documented. But at least that was in the middle of the night, in the middle of the ocean, on a shoaling they knew was there but not that shoal. This was in daylight less then10 miles from the port they just left.
Out in the middle of the ocean there are reefs. Some charts show them a few miles away from where they really are. Some sailors just do not understand how to read some of the newer electronic charts and some so called experienced sailors don't even know they are missing detail electronic charts. Every year a few boats run into a reef in the Pacific. Some are salvaged but most are a total loss.
Very interesting read: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...gAqgQFgg7MAk&usg=AOvVaw1BfZHiA1KtMqtO5H4GmNyK
Greenings, from what I read, had an interim captain and crew and the event happened after 11pm local time.
The Clipper boats always have professional skippers. They replaced the first with a 2nd after an injury. You're right about the time, I saw 2140 and thought that was local. Still light in Cape Town town at that time of day.
After reading about the Vestas disaster, it's far less surprising that they don't leave more seaway between them and a known or suspected obstacle. For a round the world sailboat race, they are mighty close together. It seems shaving seconds off can really make a difference.
- Will (Dragonfly)
- Will (Dragonfly)
This is why I like Simrad's (Navico) forward scanning sonar... At least I like the concept, I have not used it myself. Drawback is, especially for racers, depending on your speed, feedback time, accuracy etc; you may detect the shoal water or an obstacle but not have enough time to react. I'd like to see some real world testing on runs toward a known reef at various speeds.
I wasn't a sonar expert in the Navy by any means, but from what I do know there is a myriad of issues that can effect the outcome and accuracy of a ping response; obviously depth, water temp, sea state, etc... but all those things have to be put together by software for a reliable image. Therein lies the question, at a given speed can you get an accurate enough picture within enough time to take action?
I wasn't a sonar expert in the Navy by any means, but from what I do know there is a myriad of issues that can effect the outcome and accuracy of a ping response; obviously depth, water temp, sea state, etc... but all those things have to be put together by software for a reliable image. Therein lies the question, at a given speed can you get an accurate enough picture within enough time to take action?
That's really not the issue... based on how they used their gear, they didn't 'see' the shoal.
I ran Product Planning at Magellan GPS during the time we created some of the first marine GPS/mapping devices. We (and others) pondered deeply the issue of how to not display all detail as the user zoomed out; called 'decluttering' in the business. This is needed because if you did not declutter, soon the entire screen would be 'black' with detail that was not relevant at that zoom level. But how much and when, and where?
The Vestas accident happened because they got it wrong... a combination of user actions and the Expedition navigation software/C-map cartography did not show the shoal at the zoom levels the navigator chose to 'spy' the route; after a tactical decision to change from what they thought they were going to do early in the day.
So they end up on the bricks.
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With all the smart tech being developed for cars to drive themselves, Google global mapping, gps and satellite imaging, a shoal anywhere in the world could potentially be warned about in nano-seconds. That, of course, doesn't mean it is available or being used now.
The tracking systems being used are first rate, the auto-vicinity alarm systems are not there yet.
Since all this tech is relatively new and racers have been not running aground for centuries before now, I'm interested in reading about why Greenings ran aground. It looks like all navigation, today, takes place below deck. Maybe this is a wake-up call to poke your head outside once in a while.
-Will (Dragonfly)
The tracking systems being used are first rate, the auto-vicinity alarm systems are not there yet.
Since all this tech is relatively new and racers have been not running aground for centuries before now, I'm interested in reading about why Greenings ran aground. It looks like all navigation, today, takes place below deck. Maybe this is a wake-up call to poke your head outside once in a while.
-Will (Dragonfly)
