New boat issues

Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
I saw this news report tonight about a new Beneteau that lost its rig on a delivery from Maryland to Florida. Fortunately there were no injuries.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/f...s-rescued-off-north-carolina-coast/ar-BBQgfF3
Saw a related article earlier. Would be interesting to know the backstory. Probably delivering the boat from the Annapolis Boat Show to the Miami or perhaps to a new owner.

Words you don't want to hear from your broker, "Well, there is a small issue with the boat we sold you. It is adrift in the Atlantic, during the winter after the mast came down."
 
Aug 13, 2012
533
Catalina 270 Ottawa
actually, the article says that the boat was being delivered to the Miami boat show and that it is owned by Beneteau.
 
Oct 19, 2017
7,733
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
It also sounds like they were an experienced professional boat delivery crew. Someone overlooked a critical stay connection or something. I'm sure boat shows see a lot of handling and stress on standing rigging that normal use doesn't see. Lots of coming and going, maybe cranes in and out of the water and everyone is in a hurry to get to the next boat in line. I seriously doubt any investigation will be able to turn up one single thing or person that caused the demasting. But, it's still worth doing. Might turn up a design improvement that needed to be made.

-Will (Dragonfly)
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
They will need to find the boat again. With a big High 25 knot winds and currents from the SW pushing her around it maybe a bit of a challenge. Will have to wait and see if a salvage company will make a run out to find her and pull her back to shore.
 
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Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
A professional crew. A demasting rescued by the CG.

Is it only me who wonders about all the get home gear that is discussed?

Alternative rudder systems and drouge steering systems. Cut away a mast and you still have a boat if there is manageable flooding. You have a motor.

Was the boat sinking as well as demasted?

There is either more to the story or?
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
actually, the article says that the boat was being delivered to the Miami boat show and that it is owned by Beneteau.
Often the boats at a boat show have already been sold, but not closed on. The buyer gets a better deal because the boat is slightly used. Beneteau likely still owned the boat and they may have already sold it with delivery after the shows.
 
Jun 21, 2004
2,532
Beneteau 343 Slidell, LA
Beneteau has a tracking device onboard, so they know where the boat is located. Already coordinating recovery effort with coast guard....they are not going to let this one get away.
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
A LoJack for boats? Learning that frequency would be a real boost to a salvage crew. That boat is sure to be worth something when found on the high seas.
 

CarlN

.
Jan 4, 2009
603
Ketch 55 Bristol, RI
Late November and Cape Hatteras can be a fearsome combination for a small sailboat. The winter storms seem to start even earlier with climate change. This isn't the first time a boat's been lost getting from the Annapolis boat show to shows in Florida - or a life. Alex Primrose, the designer of the early Moody yachts, died off Hatteras in 1980 delivering one of his own Moody 33 designs from the Annapolis boat show. The story I've been told was that the hull/deck joint split at the bow and water started pouring in. Alex and the woman who was his crew got the liferaft over the side and got in only to find that the liferaft painter was tied to the boat. Alex then realized he'd left his knife aboard. He got out of the raft to fetch the knife but never made it back and was drowned - perhaps spending his last moments cursing not carrying his knife at all times. The liferaft eventually broke free and the woman lived to tell the story when she was picked up a few days later. I don't know if this story is completely accurate, but since hearing it I check for my knife every time I come up the companionway.
 
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Jan 22, 2008
8,050
Beneteau 323 Annapolis MD
Late November and Cape Hatteras can be a fearsome combination for a small sailboat. ..
I'm on the Delaware/Atlantic shore for a few days. A sailboat just went south under full sail. He was not out at the horizon, maybe half way. I wonder if he follows this thread?
 

genec

.
Dec 30, 2010
188
Pacific Seacraft Orion27 HP: San Diego, M: Anacortes
It also sounds like they were an experienced professional boat delivery crew. Someone overlooked a critical stay connection or something. I'm sure boat shows see a lot of handling and stress on standing rigging that normal use doesn't see. Lots of coming and going, maybe cranes in and out of the water and everyone is in a hurry to get to the next boat in line. I seriously doubt any investigation will be able to turn up one single thing or person that caused the demasting. But, it's still worth doing. Might turn up a design improvement that needed to be made.

-Will (Dragonfly)
Or someone just messed up... When I had my rigging replaced a few years ago, I went through the all the deck level connections... and found... yup, one cotterpin not properly bent over. I contacted the yard and asked that they send a man aloft and do a full inspection of the work they supposedly "finished." They did so, no charge.

Work done on Friday afternoons should always be inspected by someone else on Monday.
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Good post @genec . When I refit my mast, I double checked the work of the rigger. And then I went around taped each of the fittings and the cotter pins. One can not be to careful when it comes to their mast and rigging.
 
Jun 9, 2008
1,771
- -- -Bayfield
There is usually a reason for losing a rig and often it is human error. I have seen lots of new boats in shows put together with not quite the right required parts (because they are lost or failed to get packed) just to make it presentable for display. If the correct parts were not retrofitting because someone forgot to do it, that could be a potential problem offshore. One wants quality control over all the components of the rigging. I don't know if I agree with the comment about delivering boats from show to show has more stress than regular use of the boat by the buyer. Deliveries should be safe and simple and sometimes it just makes sense to reach with a genoa and leave the main (which can be more problematic) stowed. After the boat is sold, then if the owner is a serious cruiser or racer, the boat will be put through the paces that will have more wear and tear over the years, I would think. I do know of a Jeanneau that was sailing across the Atlantic to Annapolis for the show where the main bulkhead split from top to bottom, which would not give one much confidence in the quality. The dealers at the show put a very large poster on the bulkhead to hide the fractured bulkhead. This was many years ago.
 
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Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Bill That is a scary story. And it is the classic marketing ploy... putting lipstick on a pig... They ever find the cause of the stress that would cause such a serious failure?
 

Tom J

.
Sep 30, 2008
2,301
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
Or someone just messed up... When I had my rigging replaced a few years ago, I went through the all the deck level connections... and found... yup, one cotterpin not properly bent over. I contacted the yard and asked that they send a man aloft and do a full inspection of the work they supposedly "finished." They did so, no charge.

Work done on Friday afternoons should always be inspected by someone else on Monday.
We were sailing up the Indian River on Florida's east coast, when a sailboat issued a distress call, saying he had lost his mast over the side. The Coast Guard monitored his situation, and he ended up limping back to Jupiter Inlet with the mast and rigging in tow alongside. Seems he had a yard put the mast up the day before, and the crew found a cotter pin missing after the dismasting. He was not a happy skipper.
 
Jun 8, 2004
10,024
-na -NA Anywhere USA
Have been monitoring this thread. Not going to assume anything until the boat is found and the cause for this incident is found. The question for you, would the skipper overall be responsible for the safety of the boat to include inspection given the boat was going offshore?
 
Jun 11, 2011
1,243
Hunter 41 Lewes
@Crazy Dave Condon do I need to check the oil level after taking possession of a new vehicle from the dealer. I think this is kinda the same thing. There is an implied suitability of an object which was just handed over from the manufacturer. If there was human error it would be attributable to the manufacturer. Providing there was not a misuse issue on the part of the user.
 
Oct 19, 2017
7,733
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
would the skipper overall be responsible for the safety of the boat to include inspection given the boat was going offshore?
There is a cascade of responsibility. The captain is responsible to the crew, but the company who assured the captain everything was good, is responsible to the captain. If the captain were to be successfully sued, for example, I think the captain would be able to sue the rigging company for his losses.

-Will (Dragonfly)