Artemis Pitchpoled; 1 Dead

Well said, thanks for articulating so well what I have been thinking.

 

...

Just to make a couple of remarks about the press conference, in which a too casually sockless Tom Ehman with twitching harried sidekick Ian Murray made a rushed dismissal of a toothless bunch of reporters...

A couple of the highlights were:
First when Murray was asked if he now knew anything more about the structural integrity of Artemis and he quickly answered 'No I don't', backing away from the microphone;

When Murray said something to the effect that it was not his intent to 'investigate' the beam issue;

Ehman's complete dismissal of the 'Taco' story (while earlier having used 'whole enchiladas' as a metaphor for his wonderful committee) without offering any other detail of what supposedly took place;

When the two of them promised something vague in maybe two weeks time.

Ehman made altogether 20 seconds of perfunctory expressions of sympathy about Andrew Simpson in his opening, and thereafter spent the press conference hurriedly emphasizing the organizational wonders of ACRM's 'totally independent' experts, superficial lawyer-speak running at the mouth, while Murray appeared as if he might collapse at any moment.

Dignified, reflective, and respectful, it was not.

 

Americas Cup

=======================
You have no right to speak to me on "behalf of the participants"-you are not a participant in this America's Cup. As sad as it can be to realize the facts of history-the Fastnet, the Sydney-Hobart and many others like the kids that have died under catamarans or in the rigging of monohulls trapped underwater, as well as on previous Americas Cup yachts going way back- those are part of the great adventure of sailing. Adventure has risks,period.
My last sentence "until we get it right" means that we find out what went wrong, we fix it and we go on. We do not throw the technology out the window.
Tragedy has often been part of giant leaps of technology and in most cases the development continues until we get it right-thats what should happen in this case.

 

Motorbike, your points are understandable, (also polite, unlike mine, where insufferable by-the-book-ers just get totally up my nose) --- but referring to safety; no one wants to see human tragedies and broken boats (well I don't, maybe the US circuit car race watchers see things differently, meaning boring circulating and multiple crashes being the only reason for watching) ... but, empirical knowledge gained from reality, that is how improvements (and safety) are implemented, from mistakes in design/build/boat handling.
And this will occur, improvements, only natural - but sailing and the sea are dangerous, doesn't matter what type of craft you're on. No need for lists, common knowledge. However the AC sailors are athletes creme de la creme, like mountaineers, rock climbers, free divers, race bikers and so on, they're supermen (also some women too, yes) ... and they love what they're doing. Pioneering, breaking new ground, understanding the dangers.
If not, they step away.
It's their decision, not some whiny, blogging conservatives'.

 

Are you dictating this stuff to a nurse or something?

You didn't see what I wrote above???

Lol!

 

This discussion starts resembling one of those gun-control debates...

 

It's like this, wise guy...
If he doesn't remember me,
then he can't have more than three or four brain-cells remaining.
So this is urgent!

 

A lot do resent the format change. If someone did not like the change in the first place, grumbling is understandable. Vocal grumblers can be very noticeable.

There are a handful of sailors at my workplace.

Most sail lead keel wet slip boats or dinghies.

Trying to follow the politics and the details of high paid crews and mega bucks efforts to refine a boat that is still too slow to care during the mono AC events never seemed to interest any of them.

The last AC did not really drum up much interest as there was not a lot of sailing to follow leading up to the event.

There is more interest in this AC. One was checking into flying out to see the LV.

The fact is that the new boats are an awe inspiring spectacle.

This gives recreational sailors that occasionally try to compete a reason to look forward to seeing them racing.

You don't have to be up on all of the the details that would make past ACs interesting.

You just have to be willing to admire teams that are course sailing at a level of performance that has never been seen before. And it is not all about carbon. It is the combination of good designs, good development, a steep learning curve by the crews and general execution of a monumental challenge.

What percentage of people that are not regular racers really understood the details of what was happening (both on the water and with the teams) well enough to make it worth their while to seriously follow the mono AC racing.

 

To preface what I said before.

Watching or taking part in new technology is exciting.
Old technology is like watching grass grow.
That is the crux of the matter.

 

The main question in my mind is how many minutes and seconds elapsed from the time of the capsizing until the moment that anyone (team members, chase-boat staff, etc) realized that Simpson was missing?

 

I wonder if they use some variation of the "buddy system" where each person is assigned to watch out for their buddy. It's a lot harder to keep track of a group but if you're watching out for a buddy you may be aware that he/she is in trouble(and where/how) before anyone else.

 

What is the financial organization of the teams? Are the corporate donations tax write offs? How about the catastrophes?

 

I have every right to post whatever I please on this forum, as long as I act within the rules of the forum. You may not like it, but too bad.

Since you have decided I can not represent the participants, what right do you have to include yourself in the "we" mentioned above. Can you show us a pay stub from one of the teams? A contract for your "expertise"?

Dying is not an adventure. It is the end of one.

--
CutOnce

 

I am firmly in the multihull is fun and interesting camp.
But it has always bothered me that many cannot realize we are all sailors and act with a little more tolerance.
My family dug deep and got me a membership to a yacht club as a "student" member while I was in college. I was really excited since I expected to find a resource for learning to sail better.
Unfortunately I had a Tornado catamaran. Not a single person was willing to talk to me for the years membership.

I undoubtedly have a knee jerk reaction even after 35 years.
And I am still not a very good sailor.

I hope we find the causes and fix them to advance the sport. Many of the major advances in aerospace (my day job) came because of failures. Some of those cost lives, but we have advanced over the years. Safety records are much better and we fly faster, higher, with greater turning capability. Seems like a good model to follow.
We should not care if it is a monohull or multihull.

Rabid, dogmatic defenders of "the faith" don't really help at all (sometimes that describes myself).

 

Cut,

If there is anyone in the entire world of on-line sailing types that does not know that Doug is a part of the "we" when it comes to doing everything in their power to advance the state of the art for foiling sailboats, it is not you.

Don't get all huffy and make silly statements.

One of the constant hopes of many BDN regulars is that there will be trickle down of technology from the big dollar boat racing into boats for the rest of us.

This round is about foiling cats with wings. Doug is more the foil nut and I am more of a wing nut.

In terms of trying to make some trickle down happen from the foiling 72s, Doug is doing what he can. Therefore he is part of the "we" that is "trying to get it right".

Yes I think he gets certain ideas twisted around at times. Most of us do. Again, its the guy that puts his ideas to the test that gets my respect. I see him trying.