Sailboat hits whale in Artemis Transat! WHALE PROOF BOAT?

[sailingaway]

the Open 60 sailboat Foncia hit a whale while sailing in the Artemis Transat. It severly damaged his daggerboard (see photo here: http://yachtpals.com/artemis-whale).

Has anybody else hit a whale, and caused damage to a boat? Anyway we can design to make a boat "whale proof?"

Im sure Michel Desjoyeaux on Foncia, would have loved that added design feature

[kach22i]

Foils.....................they should have had a hovercraft.

[Fanie]

My friend went fishing off cape town a short while ago. At one stage the skipper throttled back to stop the boat. The next moment this massive tail and aft fin (tail) came out of the water right in front of them... the water from it dripped on the boat ! Had the skipper not been wake-up they could have run into some serious troubles.

One should take into consideration that these whales are used to know they're the biggest thing around, so they're not going to scatter to get out of your way. If a female whale wants to protect her calf you could be in for a surprise.

Maybe one could have an ultrasound transmitter installed so the whales can hear you coming... even in turbulent water that woud douse out sailing sounds.

[Gilbert]

I don't think 'whale proof' can be tested.
But with luck a boat may survive a collision with a whale.

[Tiny Turnip]

I seem to remember that in extremis, a jack-knife and suspenders (which you must not forget ) and infinite resource and sagacity can do the trick...

[StrandedMariner]

A steel hull would be a good start.

[Guillermo]

Whale thinking:
Has anywhale else been hit by a boat, resulting hurt? Anyway, can we design to make a whale "boats proof"?

Cheers.

[Brent Swain]

Almost all steel hulls are whale proof.
Brent

[kach22i]

Poor whale.

[SamSam]

Originally Posted by Tiny Turnip

I seem to remember that in extremis, a jack-knife and suspenders (which you must not forget ) and infinite resource and sagacity can do the trick...

Add a wad of gum and just about anything would be possible....

[Guillermo]

Scuttlebutt: Video of the Week

(May 19-23, 2008) While leading the Open 60 fleet on Day 10 (May 20, 2008) of The Artemis Transat from Plymouth (GBR) to Boston (USA), Vincent Riou onboard PRB was forced to abandon his boat due to keel problems from an apparent collision with a shark. Fortunately, Loick Peyron onboard Gitana Eighty, who was running in second place at the time, was only fifteen miles away, and the weather conditions permitted an easy rescue. Lucky for us, Peyron also had the video camera on during the transfer.

http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/08/0519/


Should we ban these shark and whale killing machines out of the water?

Cheers.

[charmc]

Something like this new and innovative idea, a design less susceptible to damage from striking sea creatures. No obsolete fin keel to crack or break off. This new design will allow the boat to ride up without damage if the creature is huge, and allow smaller creatures to slide off with minimal damage. This could be the design of the future for offshore racing and voyaging.

[Trevlyns]

Amazing, Charlie!

I wonder why they never thought of it before

[DanishBagger]

Originally Posted by charmc

Something like this new and innovative idea, a design less susceptible to damage from striking sea creatures. No obsolete fin keel to crack or break off. This new design will allow the boat to ride up without damage if the creature is huge, and allow smaller creatures to slide off with minimal damage. This could be the design of the future for offshore racing and voyaging.

Wow! That thing is so extreme it's ridiculous! Noone in their right mind would sail such a thing! Damn racers! What the hell will they come up with next!?

[charmc]

Originally Posted by Guillermo

Whale thinking:
Has anywhale else been hit by a boat, resulting hurt? Anyway, can we design to make a whale "boats proof"? Cheers.

Poor whale kach22i

Or, rather, ship-proof. I wonder if the large volume noise of many different frequencies produced by a large ship interfers with or overloads whales' sonar abilities? Literature reports growing numbers of severe wounds and deaths from ship collisions.