2 dead in SY Hobart

[MsKellySails 3]

1 hour ago, Guest said:

I never considered getting launched by mainsheet until it happened when I was solo once. The actual violence and sudden ness of it. Like being king hit or blindsided. Even though the traveller and boom  were centered. I was leaning across the path of ms unlocking main halyard. Benign example  but an example of how anticipatory you need to be. Bruised flesh and confidence only. What if, turned off.

I don't understand. Can you tell me the process of what actually happens? What should I be careful of?

[waikiore 461]

The Herald has repeated the already proven false claim that they were both hit by booms, as I suggested lets keep this forum accurate .

[Guest 129]

Any situation where a radical switch in wind direction will move the boom to opposite side and if you actually touching ms , you will get shifted. My boom moved only 500 mm but with such force I smashed into primary and ended up half overboard.
This was not a broad reaching mishap or running , actually had been close hauled in 20 gusting 30+. Bore away, in a lull, furled head sail, then headed back up to some relative shelter, centered and secured boom, switched on motor, leaned across ms track to release main halyard when wind  switched to port beam with a huge gust. As I was leaning on taught ms I got slung.

I was motoring in 10knts on stb nose, parallel with a cliff in gusty, shifty conditions.

Any conditions that a movement of the boom will result in a shift in ms that will displace you, treat with caution.

[K4309 395]

2 hours ago, waikiore said:

The Herald has repeated the already proven false claim that they were both hit by booms, as I suggested lets keep this forum accurate .

Serves you right for reading the Herald then, ay?

What I posted earlier about the mainsheet was a quote from some guy at the CYA, but very surprisingly was via Stuffed. I know the journo's are all on holiday now, and judging by the grammar, MSM is being run by dyslexic 7 year olds, but I was very surprised to get some actual information via an MSM source. 

That said, the MSM are loving this, headline grabbing tragedy to add to the shark sightings, dramatic accounts of what the weather forecast is, or repeating Police news on a continuous loop.

[Guest 129]

All media is following the status quo, burley for the masses. Chasing popularity, aka dollars, is a license to distort, obfuscate or just downright lie.

[aardvarkash10 1,084]

6 hours ago, Y88 5241 said:

Perhaps the idea of paying to race needs to be looked at. This is the 2nd fatality on a paid punters race boat in 3-months. 

it’s a nice idea that punters can pay to say they have done a Hobart etc but at what price

Dead bodies of paying participants litter Everest.  I'm sure there are other examples - trips to the Titanic for example.

A paying rider is a h&s liability I would have thought.  The Australian law is the basis of ours, so I expect any serious harm to a customer will lead to scrutiny by the Aussie equivalent of WorkSafe. 

A big prosecution may sort the problem out.

 

 

[darkside 65]

Yep Aussie is very strict. When we did the Darwin Bali as cruisers there was no way the participants could meet the offshore racing requirements. Even signing a waiver made no difference.

So the event was hosted in Bali, just happened to start in Darwin.

Paying customers will be a legal nightmare.

[Psyche 775]

On 27/12/2024 at 11:38 AM, Island Time said:

Imo this is a leadership failure. All crew should be warned and aware of possibility of a gybe when sailing deep, esp by the lee. No-one should be positioned even close to where they could be hit, regardless of convenience.  Crew safety is paramount, and any helmsman, tactician or skipper should be well aware of any time when this is possible. 

Absolutely agree, sailing too deep for the conditions is irresponsible i.e at night, confused seas, fresh breeze etc... its on the skipper to the degree if they dont have the skills to manage it, just heat up 15 degrees and be safe.  Yachting can be dangerous but compared to other pastimes its very safe, the issue is that it's always dramatic and makes the news. Didnt we have a very experienced sailor die in the coastal going around Cape Brett from an accidental gybe a year to two ago? We have all been hit or nearly hit by gear during an accidental gybe. The death zone is large in a boat with mid boom sheeting, my boat has 6 falls of mainsheet, two boom blocks and 5 metres of lines from traveller to boom full out. When that lot gybes accidentally in breeze it could concuss or kill you no problems. The media does not differentiate between being hit by the boom, sheets or blocks and in the end its irrelevant as any of them can kill you, the forces are immense and often underestimated as breeze builds.

[Clipper 369]

I was there. We were within VHF range to hear the Mayday off one of the boats. 2 closest boats stood by (and not that it would have helped, but interesting to hear one had a defib on board). From what I understand, both sailors were experienced, not paying beginners. Awful news to hear during a race, but damn good reminder re safety. I have never done a race where I was clipped on so often.

It was windy, but not more than low 40s, so not too bad. But seas got very large and at times, very confused, so could have been easy to get thrown into a Chinese or the like. We had the helm washed off the wheel at one point, and I still have bruises from being bodily lifted up by green water and thrown against a stanchion.

Remember this is was a race that saw 3 dismastings, 1 mob and nearly 30% retirement rate. Not a walk in the park.

Sadly, sometimes accidents happen, and it happened multiple times in this race. I'm sure there will be learnings for us after things have been investigated.