float broke off... trimaran capsizes

[Angélique]

Hi,

Dutch article:
http://www.schuttevaer.nl/nieuws/act...den-gered.html
".... een van de drijvers afbreekt en de trimaran omslaat."

Google translation in English:
http://translate.google.com/translat...state0=&swap=1
".... one of the floats broke off and the trimaran capsizes."

Is it a Dragonfly 920 ?











I feel very sorry for those folks...

Regards,

Angel

[Doug Lord]

I think you're right-sad.
http://www.dragonfly-trimarans.org/d920_photos.htm

[Joe Moore]

Ouch, at least nobody hurt and by the looks of things all of the boat was recovered. Is there any info on what happened? I guess a waterstay failed somehow?

[gonzo]

On the good side, she stayed afloat

[Fanie]

Those ama's have quite a bit of flotation, the beams should be at least strong enough to submerge them comfortably without breaking off.

Yes, it is a pity, she looks like a nice boat !

[catsketcher]

It looks to me like the crossbeam may have failed just above the waterstay. The front beam, the one under most stress seems to be folded where you would imagine it to go. The float seems to have buckled under.

The rear beam or waterstay could have gone first and then broken the front beam. We will need more info.

cheers

Phil

[Fanie]

If there was a cable running through each beam, tied to the ama and the hull, could it have prevented a capsize ?

[bad dog]

Yep, this is a 920 alright, just the same as the one I have been sailing for 2 years. This is the first mishap I have heard of on any of the DF series tris. I wonder if we'll get an explanation?

They are just so impressive when you work them. The connections are really over-engineered (but very smooth and easy to move), with additional bracing in both lateral and vertical planes. It's got me beat - must have been a catastrophic failure somewhere!

On close inspection I can see the collapsed (starboard) side beams have folded back into docking mode. DFs fold laterally, not vertically like a Farrier. There is also no fat cable brace from bow to fwd outer beam - a safety brace on the newer models which prevents accidental folding. I wonder if these two things point to a "whoops I forgot to lock the outwinder!" moment. Bugger.

Why the float would break off remains a mystery - the arms fold together normally, but perhaps under pressure of sail and chop, things got out of sync?

Love the translation from Dutch!

[bad dog]

This comment from Aussie Dragonfly agent:
"That is an old 920, before they started making curved beams. I’ll bet is was operator error."

[Angélique]

Something about the circumstances. It happened on the IJsselmeer, a big shallow lake of 1100 km² with an average depth of 5 to 6 m. It's known for its steep short waves which give a nasty chop at 6 Bft. But that should not be dangerous for a DF 920 with an experienced crew. It is not known yet if it was an experienced crew and if they knew how to operate the easy folding system of the DF 920 correctly. The wind was 6 Bft according to the KNRM (Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution) rescue report.

Here is the KNRM rescue report in Dutch:
http://www.knrm.nl/30waar_wij_zijn/1...cle=13979&hm=3

It's the same story as in the newspaper (the newspaper got the story from the KNRM) but the original KNRM report has the wind data at the bottom ‘‘Wind SW 6 Bft’’

IJsselmeer: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=5...97388&t=h&z=10

Angel

[Nordic Cat]

Similar thing happened up here last year. Turned out it was operator error, they forgot to mount the pins that lock the amas in the open position!

Dragonflys are extremely solidly built, probably why they don't do well as racers in general.

Alan