another lost sailor
- Thread starter dlewis812
- Start date
Tragic. I wonder what exactly happened...
The article says it's a 26 foot boat named "MAC", which makes me suspect if it was a MacGregor. I was out racing on Sunday at AYC (on the western end of the Sound) on a Beneteau 36.7 with an experienced race crew, and we had some rough times. We saw many deep draft keel boats with good skippers and crews get knocked down in that wind. I cannot imagine taking a water ballasted boat out in those conditions, especially on the eastern end of the Sound where the waves had another 70 miles of fetch to build over...
The article says it's a 26 foot boat named "MAC", which makes me suspect if it was a MacGregor. I was out racing on Sunday at AYC (on the western end of the Sound) on a Beneteau 36.7 with an experienced race crew, and we had some rough times. We saw many deep draft keel boats with good skippers and crews get knocked down in that wind. I cannot imagine taking a water ballasted boat out in those conditions, especially on the eastern end of the Sound where the waves had another 70 miles of fetch to build over...
Very sad and if the story is true in which he was moving the boat from the Peconic Bay area to Port Washington it was a pretty epic trip of a good 100 something NM
IMHP the worst part is he called for help from a cell phone which really killed his window to be rescued compared to direct to the CG with VHF and better yet a DSC/GPS handheld
In taking safety at sea during the communion class they had a CG pilot on hand and even with a PLB or ERIB they can rescue much faster when the people in the water have a handheld
We also had some very luck folks on the southshore who ran around with no way to reach anybody and sat there over 30 hours when the were found by luck
IMHP the worst part is he called for help from a cell phone which really killed his window to be rescued compared to direct to the CG with VHF and better yet a DSC/GPS handheld
In taking safety at sea during the communion class they had a CG pilot on hand and even with a PLB or ERIB they can rescue much faster when the people in the water have a handheld
We also had some very luck folks on the southshore who ran around with no way to reach anybody and sat there over 30 hours when the were found by luck
I was going to launch my runabout Sunday but didn't because it was too windy. It was a bad day to go up the Sound into a West -Northwest blow. If only he had pulled into Mitchell's Marina in Greenport, after enjoying a nice downhill ride from Peconic Bay to Greenport. He could have had a nice dinner and a pleasant sail the next day in a 15 knot WNW wind. He would be alive today. It would have cost him around $200 including dinner and some time - not his life.
When we're about to make a bad decision, find another way.
My sympathy to the family.
When we're about to make a bad decision, find another way.
My sympathy to the family.
There were obviously problems since the man is dead. No, I don't know what kind of boat it was and I don't care. I guess it wasn't founded enough to survive the conditions since it sank. What is to discuss? How it happened? That's forensics.
So far as I know he could have sought refuge in Mattituck but didn't. Or he could have turned away from the wind and sailed back to Orient Point. But he didn't so far as we know.
What I do know is that in LI Sound sailing into a strong Westerly wind, can subject one to steep waves which can turn a sailboat around in direction. To elaborate, the waves can slow the boat to the extend that you can lose steerage and the boat can spin around from the waves. This can be extremely dangerous to crew who can easily end up in the water as the boat spins. I've experienced this on a 35' boat. It can happen on a 26' boat. You can quibble about the skill of the crew but a single handed guy in those conditions was in great peril, in my opinion.
So far as I know he could have sought refuge in Mattituck but didn't. Or he could have turned away from the wind and sailed back to Orient Point. But he didn't so far as we know.
What I do know is that in LI Sound sailing into a strong Westerly wind, can subject one to steep waves which can turn a sailboat around in direction. To elaborate, the waves can slow the boat to the extend that you can lose steerage and the boat can spin around from the waves. This can be extremely dangerous to crew who can easily end up in the water as the boat spins. I've experienced this on a 35' boat. It can happen on a 26' boat. You can quibble about the skill of the crew but a single handed guy in those conditions was in great peril, in my opinion.
LIS is and angry place when it blows from that direction as the wave period could be in the 5 to 6 second range
It was gusting above 28 knots
It could have been simple bad luck. Maybe a log punched a hole in the hull? Or something broke lose in the boat and clipped a seacock? Maybe he didn't use his VHF because his electronics were wet? Maybe......?
We don't (and won't) know.
We don't (and won't) know.
Lost Sailor (opinion)
There seems to be some misinformation about the boat Was it a McGregor 26, Was it a Catalina 25, or a C&C 26 Seems to me The man must have been a capable sailor to attempt a 100 km solo sail in poor conditions. Apparently the boat has been lost. Could be the boat was not ready for the undertaking. To try this in a light board boat would be poor judgement I have a pearson 26w in tip top condition and I wouldnt try it singlehanded Im 76. Obviously there were opportunities to get in out of the weather that were ignored My condolences to the man`s family
was it a C&C 26
There seems to be some misinformation about the boat Was it a McGregor 26, Was it a Catalina 25, or a C&C 26 Seems to me The man must have been a capable sailor to attempt a 100 km solo sail in poor conditions. Apparently the boat has been lost. Could be the boat was not ready for the undertaking. To try this in a light board boat would be poor judgement I have a pearson 26w in tip top condition and I wouldnt try it singlehanded Im 76. Obviously there were opportunities to get in out of the weather that were ignored My condolences to the man`s family
was it a C&C 26
I don't know where the 10 kt number comes from but it was blowing the cats out of the trees on Sunday.
The C&C 25 is a good boat that can take a breeze but a 70 mile leg into a 18 to 22 knot breeze with wind against tide for at least part of the way, single handed, is a long day and , again, the facts speak for themselves. Reports are that the boat sank.
The C&C 25 is a good boat that can take a breeze but a 70 mile leg into a 18 to 22 knot breeze with wind against tide for at least part of the way, single handed, is a long day and , again, the facts speak for themselves. Reports are that the boat sank.
Boats racing at AYC on Sunday reported frequent gusts in the 33-34kts range, with at least one boat seeing over 36kts....