Hi
I have recently completed two passages from Melbourne Australia to Queensland Goldcoast (including the Sydney to Goldcoast offshore race which is second only to the Sydney to Hobart race here) and Sydney to Melbourne passage passing through the notorious Bass Strait in a US built Beneteau 49.
On our return passage we got caught in an unpredicted gale in this shallow Bass Straight, with up to 3m swell one way, 1m swell another way and 1.5m seas on top of this and up to 35+knot winds. Swells were close together and there was a hell of a lot of slamming this relatively flat bottom boat down off the swell.
After a day of this we found we had a leak in the bow thruster tube and had to run for cover fearing that the tube would let go and we'd be pointing towards the bottom of the ocean. We sheltered for 3 days at Refuge Cove in southern Victoria and effected repairs and then limped home.
I've built small fibreglass boats (canoes, kayaks) and repaired with fibreglass and epoxy but I was really concerned when I saw the stock Beneteau fitout of the Lewmar 185 bowthruster. The 185mm glass pipe were bonded to the hulls and it looked like it was joined in the centre. This centre "join" was a crack that had sheared around 3/4 of the tube. This construction was all that held the Lewmar motor which was mounted under the front bunk.
With 40 pounds of electric motor suspended on the tube it was no wonder the tube cracked under the pounding it got in the gale.
My question is whether there is any other accounts of this potentially catastrophic failure.
I am aware of a recent loss of another 50 ft Beneteau in an Ocean Racing Club of Victoria (a club I am a member of) in unexplained circumstances. Scuttlebut I've heard suggests that this vessel was lost because the boat was sailed with the front hatch open, unsealed in heavy seas. I doubt a skipper would knowingly do this, and I have definitely seen no official report saying this. But Im just wondering whether the bowthruster tube setup I saw may have contributed to this nearly fatal outing for the 6 POB. In the inquiry into this loss of vessel they received evidence of " an anecdotal account of another yacht suffering from flooding when the unsupported bow thruster motor worked in a seaway, inducing a fatigue failure in the casing leading to flooding. "
Our enquirys with Benetau and Lewmar are going nowhere. We have engineering reports that suggest major deficiencies. We managed to effect a repair using dinner plates and towells to block the tube and inflow of water for a 20hour motorsail to safety (after 3 days waiting out the gale). But my wife and I and 4 crew mates had their lives put in danger by what I consider to be a significant design fault.
Please respond if you have heard of similar issues.
Regards
Paul Kenna
I have recently completed two passages from Melbourne Australia to Queensland Goldcoast (including the Sydney to Goldcoast offshore race which is second only to the Sydney to Hobart race here) and Sydney to Melbourne passage passing through the notorious Bass Strait in a US built Beneteau 49.
On our return passage we got caught in an unpredicted gale in this shallow Bass Straight, with up to 3m swell one way, 1m swell another way and 1.5m seas on top of this and up to 35+knot winds. Swells were close together and there was a hell of a lot of slamming this relatively flat bottom boat down off the swell.
After a day of this we found we had a leak in the bow thruster tube and had to run for cover fearing that the tube would let go and we'd be pointing towards the bottom of the ocean. We sheltered for 3 days at Refuge Cove in southern Victoria and effected repairs and then limped home.
I've built small fibreglass boats (canoes, kayaks) and repaired with fibreglass and epoxy but I was really concerned when I saw the stock Beneteau fitout of the Lewmar 185 bowthruster. The 185mm glass pipe were bonded to the hulls and it looked like it was joined in the centre. This centre "join" was a crack that had sheared around 3/4 of the tube. This construction was all that held the Lewmar motor which was mounted under the front bunk.
With 40 pounds of electric motor suspended on the tube it was no wonder the tube cracked under the pounding it got in the gale.
My question is whether there is any other accounts of this potentially catastrophic failure.
I am aware of a recent loss of another 50 ft Beneteau in an Ocean Racing Club of Victoria (a club I am a member of) in unexplained circumstances. Scuttlebut I've heard suggests that this vessel was lost because the boat was sailed with the front hatch open, unsealed in heavy seas. I doubt a skipper would knowingly do this, and I have definitely seen no official report saying this. But Im just wondering whether the bowthruster tube setup I saw may have contributed to this nearly fatal outing for the 6 POB. In the inquiry into this loss of vessel they received evidence of " an anecdotal account of another yacht suffering from flooding when the unsupported bow thruster motor worked in a seaway, inducing a fatigue failure in the casing leading to flooding. "
Our enquirys with Benetau and Lewmar are going nowhere. We have engineering reports that suggest major deficiencies. We managed to effect a repair using dinner plates and towells to block the tube and inflow of water for a 20hour motorsail to safety (after 3 days waiting out the gale). But my wife and I and 4 crew mates had their lives put in danger by what I consider to be a significant design fault.
Please respond if you have heard of similar issues.
Regards
Paul Kenna
