MacGregorSailors.com

Some people will take a lot of risk in order to improve their position!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tUoUxzt9sI

looks like someone jumped off on starboard side at the 23 second mark of the video!! I hope he made it!

Wafi!!!!

Reminds me of my new favorite T-Shirt:

LIFE IS TOUGH

It's even tougher if you're stupid

Rick

Wait a minute - - - -

Don't sailboats have the right of way??????????????????

Rick

pokerrick1 wrote:Wait a minute - - - -

Don't sailboats have the right of way??????????????????

Rick

yeah, common misconception. They have the right of way over similarly size motorboats, but not over ships in a shipping lane considered to be "restricted maneuvering", i.e., too large to turn a full circle in the channel.

That's ridiculously risky.

And from the website of the youtube video (http://www.cowes.co.uk/yacht_dismasted% ... Cowes.aspx)

Dramatic collision between supertanker & yacht

06 August 2011

Whilst the Extreme Racing series was entertaining the crowds at this year's Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week, a supertanker was in a collision with a racing yacht, that was then dismasted as its spinnaker sail was snagged by the ship's anchor.

The Marine Knutsen supertanker was on its way into Southampton docks and was making its presence known by repeatedly sounding its horn. But one yacht didn't seem to give itself enough time to clear the massive boat and was hit before having its mast and rigging ripped off when one of its sails got caught in the supertanker's anchor.

Solent Coastguard was alerted at 15:20 BST that the yacht Atlanta of Chester, taking part in the Cowes Week regatta, had been involved in the accident. Two people were rescued from the sea, the coastguard said.

That's why they call it RACING.. I have raced Cars Motorcycles and competed regularly as a Long Distance Cross Country...Ski Racer..
You can often be presented with options.. Sometimes those options are risky.. Sometimes your testosterone level exceeds your skill level..
As I have seen, often as not, it can end, in losing ( not even placing) and occasionally ends in disaster.. For sure there was a miscalculation involved in this choice..

For sure there was a miscalculation involved in this choice..

Rich
ya think ! Their's no excuse for Stupity what was this skipper thinking if I make this interseption I'll be the talk of the race !! , clearly putting his crew in danger !!
Would like to know if inexperience of crew & skipper was a factor , that was away to close to be considered an experienced decision unless they all decided to go for it ! , like you said in a race sometimes the thought process goes for a dive deep south ! , think of the charges that could have developed if a life or two had been lost !

Now that said Anyone for a race !
Mind ya would have been something to see if they had just made it in the knick of time "Almost EH"
J

Yep Jon if he had made it he could have been the talk of the town.. if someone had died ?? I have to ask? Why are they racing in that spot?
Why dont they have contingencies / rules of conduct, for just such issues?
Ive seen individuals hurt in a lot of "events" but he who got hurt was the ONE who made the choice.. I saw a lot of Motocross riders get hurt and a couple die back when my brother rode a Ossa Factory and local shop sponsored bike and longggggggggg before there was any REAL money in it..
30 years later he began to pay for some of his mistakes and still does...... his choice ..

Just as a point of order: does anyone actually know the sequence of events that led to this. It is pretty difficult to judge it as stupid of you don't know what actually happened. Maybe a critical line snapped. Maybe he hit a log. Maybe he had a seizure.

DaveC426913 wrote:Just as a point of order: does anyone actually know the sequence of events that led to this. It is pretty difficult to judge it as stupid of you don't know what actually happened. Maybe a critical line snapped. Maybe he hit a log. Maybe he had a seizure.

What ! Maybe he should not have been that close ! Even if his steering had failed he could have taken evasive action by steering with sails be interesting to hear what they have to say !
Thats a very big red log alright "Shipping Lane " Duh ! I'd say they were going for it Hull or Fire ! That ship is as big as the Sky above it !!?
Reminds of the guys you see driving through & around the gates at the railroad crossings "lights a flashing & bells a ringing" and everyone wonders why the last car did not make it through "something to do with that big red train a coming "

racing in a Shipping Lane ? thats like walking across a race track while the race is on ! & then asking how come I got run over !

I'd say charges could be a coming to that skipper unless the Yacht club is able to pull some strings !!

J

Highlander wrote: What ! Maybe he should not have been that close ! Even if his steering had failed he could have taken evasive action by steering with sails

Maybe. Maybe.

We have no facts.

Obviously there was some bad judgement, but we really don't know how much.

As for steering with sails, well, who knows? How quickly did it go down? How much worse might it have been if he hadn't? (Well, it couldn't have been a lot worse collision-wise - he did actually get rammed).

You can see that he lost his spinnaker so maybe up to that point he had enough speed. Yeah, maybe maybe.

In that part of the Solent large vessels are severely constrained by their draft - even at high water, some of the channels still only allow 2 metres of water under the hull of the largest ships. It is normal for at least one Pilot launch to run ahead of the commercial vessel, and these guys are typically quite aggressive and forthright in their dealings with yachts