cheeky rafiki

http://www.uscgnews.com/go/doc/4007/2168318/

 

Very sad news. Condolences to all the families and friends. Club flags will be at half mast this weekend.

Thanks to all in the US Coastguard, and other searchers for all the hard work.

Maybe keels should have a redundancy device like a stainless wire allowing the keel to fall but still act as a righting weight? It might give enough time to deploy the life raft. Some food for thought.

 

The keel appears to have folded towards the starboard side pulling the centre bolts (s?) through with a chunk of laminate. Interesting that there appears to be no damage to the first two and last keel bolt holes, did the bolts fail perhaps after fatiguing as the keel loosened?
Capsize following ballast loss is rapid and life raft deployment would be impossible if the raft were trapped under the up turned boat. If a fin keel starts to loosen, it may only be a matter of time before the bolts fatigue, in this case launching the raft (attached) or attaching it to the stern would be a good survival tactic?

 

As I wrote the previous post I was thinking exactly the same..

 

Surely every yacht of that class and/or keel design should be recalled for testing? Will Beneteau salvage the yacht for investigation. If GM and Toyota have to, so should a yacht builder. RIP 4 innocent yachtsmen.

 

http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2004/Beneteau-40.7-2644966/Stamford/CT/United-States#.U4GI7nJdXhd

 

Thanks, Peter. May I ask is that standard? Good to see someone else has been thinking along the same lines. Hardly rocket science, but certainly potentially a life saver for blue water, fin keel boats. Even maybe IMOCA 60' ers. Some real world testing to ensure the keel does not 'bump' through the hull in a seaway may be in order. Having lost a mast on a 32' er it was quite tricky recovering it without it piercing the hull with broken ends. That was in a top end 5 off the west of the Isle of Wight in wind against tide at the Brambles, some early morning fun!.

If that attachment was in place (and standard), it suggests it was not up to the job, exactly when it was required, unfortunately. Maybe it partly explains the tear out on the starboard side f/glass of the Cheeki Raffiki. It would be preferable to mount the inboard end into a significant 'spreader' plate not halfway through a stringer. It need not intrude on access to the keel bolts.

 

Suki Solo i dont know if this is standard,
it scares me,
i have seen stronger scaffolding

as i understand it these boats handicap are taxed on keel width, and chord length
perhaps there lies the design problem

but there is a lot i dont know about these boats,
i dont want to jump to conclusions,
i just want to find out why they are designed so dangerously,
speed , cost and lightness of construction play the major part,
what other important parts am i missing

 

While working as a charter skipper in Greece which is both windy and very rocky, I saw the results of many grounding incidents from inexperienced bareboat charters. Generally, the narrower the trailing edge of the keel meeting the hull, the more the damage. Older cast fin keels often had a flange on the upper face to spread the loads on the hull both transversly and longitudinally with the bolts displaced from the centreline. If the keel bolts are not on the centreline there will be much reduced tendency to fatigue if the keel becomes lose. I can't see that these are significantly more expensive features in the context of a new boat, more probably, no regulatory body seems to care if a minor grounding can sink a boat or if the occasional keel can fall off?
Perhaps there could also be a requirement for sufficient internal ballast to provide moderate stability in the event of keel loss?

 

Are you guys saying it was a Beneteau?

 

Listed on Marine Traffic as a Beneteau First 40.7

 

Are you implying that the "white cable" is the suggested tether from earlier post #17 ?

Looks more like an electrical ground cable to me.

 

of course not

 

No on thinks this is a valid point? The builder/designer have no fit for purpose responsibility?