Transat Jacques Vabre: Capsize

The tri Actual capsized 20 miles off of Chebourg-everyone ok:
http://www.jacques-vabre.com/en/s01_home/s01p01_home.php

 

The most important thing about a racing multi is that the sponsors name can still be read while capsized.

http://www.jacques-vabre.com/en/s08_multimedia/s08p01_photos.php

So far in the 50 class: 1 capsize and 1 failed crossbeam out of 6 entries. Right on average for multi losses in an ocean race (~30-40%). Now if 3-4 of the IMOAC class break.....

 

Go extreme or go home, seems to be the way of the big racing multihulls....

Which scenario makes a better headline?

"Boat *** wins race" with a photo of a bunch of boats sailing normally,
or
"Spectacular capsize knocks boat *** out of race" with a photo of the crew clinging to a daggerboard.

One gets the boat and its sponsors' logos on the front page, the other is relegated to "In other news...."

'Nuff said.

 

Riding High

It's hard to believe the amount of flotation that the crossbeams provide.
It appears that both of the amas are almost clear if the water!

 

Yves the Blevec: "The boat sailed downwind under reduced main and gennaker at a speed of 20 knots in 20 to 25 knots of wind in a not large sea. There was a noise then a dry bang, a blow of phenomenal breakage. The boat paused, then turned brutally over its bow. I said "This is not possible!!!" It was extremly brutal and happened in two seconds. Jean was not able to release the sheets because he was propelled forward, as in a car accident. At that very moment there was nothing anybody could do - because I was falling too. Jean during this time was in the process of diving into the interior. I felt reassured to finally hit water but had the frightening vision of the boat falling on top of me, the position being at that moment very critical. The return contacy with the boat came quickly, but not in a friendly manner for the whole net fell over me. Miraculously, the boat shifted enough for me to catch the net and climb on board without being imprisoned. I was not very long in water. Quickly we opened the trap door that allowed ourselves to communicate and we said, "It IS crazy, what happened?

 

=============
Good point-hadn't noticed that but there sure is a bunch of flotation in those cross arms.

 

See that bow damage?

Did this boat run into something?

 

I noticed that, if it had simply given way then surely the rig would have just come down and the boat remained upright - after all it's hardly an unstable platform. Coupled with the fact she went end over end, it must have been something in the water surely?

 

The description above sound like a sudden deceleration as well..:

"Jean was not able to release the sheets because he was propelled forward, as in a car accident."

Could be just a hard plunge into a wave face? I don't know.

 

My two bob's worth is it hit a 40' semi-submerged container. There are thousands of them lost every year, it's a wonder boats don't hit them more often. Reassuring (again) that it just turtled and stayed around on top of the blue stuff to provide life support for the crew. Don't want to rake over old coals, but would a mono in the same situation? Maybe... if the keel fell right off.

 

Is 'Bad dog' badmouthing my boat!?


Yeah- can keep my up at night on a passage at times- wondering what the hell is wallowing in the next troth as the boat rushes down each wave face.

A strong 42 footer sunk in a couple of minutes a few years back off the US coast after hitting something heavy- tore a gash down the side of the hull as the boat rode over what ever it was.

 

BT out

Sebastian Josse rescued from Open 60 mono: http://www.btsebjosse.com/latestnews.asp
http://www.jacques-vabre.com/en/s01_home/s01p01_home.php#

 

Transat Jaques Vabre

From Scuttlebutt:
THOMSON RETIRES AFTER COLLISION
(November 16, 2009) - At approximately 1820 GMT on Sunday (Nov 15th) HUGO BOSS
crew Alex Thomson and Ross Daniel, reported a collision with an unidentified
object in the water while racing in the Transat Jacques Vabres. HUGO BOSS was
lying in 4th place when the damage was sustained and it was reported that they
were taking on water. A pump worked overnight and the crew confirmed that they
were managing the ingress of water.

On inspection in daylight this morning skipper Alex confirmed the damage is
located on the starboard bow and although fairly localised it is allowing a
fair amount of water in the boat. The skippers are discussing the damage with
their shore team to finalise a temporary fix which will allow them to make for
the nearest land which is The Azores. Although the damage is small it will not
be possible to stop the water until the area is free from water, something not
possible in the ocean. Regrettably today at 1300 GMT Alex and Ross made the
difficult decision to officially retire from the race. -- Read on: http://tinyurl.com/yh7ycmg

* The ninth edition of the 4800-mile doublehanded Transat Jacques Vabre race
from France to Costa Rica began on November 8th, where among the original
starters, 10 of the 14 Open 60 monohulls and 4 of the 6 Open 50 multihulls are
still competing. -- Event website: http://www.jacques-vabre.com/en

 

A quick round-up right before the first to finish.

The lead Multi50 (Crepes Whaou) is right up with the two lead IMOAC 60 monos (Safran and Groupe Bel); ~200 NM out, the monos being is stealth mode right now. The other 3 remaining multi's are all behind the other 8 remaining monos. The 2nd place multi is 1700 NM back while the last mono is 1400 NM back. (Note: the muti's sail a course 370 NM longer).

Both classes took thier expected losses; 28% for monos and 33% for multis.

Multi50: 2 abandoned out of 6 (33%)
Actual: pitchpole
Fenetren Cardinal: crossbeam cracks

IMOAC 60: 4 out of 14 (28%)
Hugo Boss: collision
Brit Air: sail track
BT: stove in coachroof
DCN: keel structure

PS: FWIW, I dont think Actual hit anything. The break is too clean along the WT bulkhead. At that that speed, she would have rode over any semi-submerged object and it would have left a long damage trail like Hugo Boss's. I think the skin failed when she stuffed it.

 

12/3 With one multi still 1000 NM from the finish....

Crepes Whaou, a Multi50, was first to finish on Nov 24th in 15d15h31m.

Safran, an IMOAC60, finished 2nd also on Nov 24th in 15d19h22m

All the other 9 monohulls were in by Nov 28th and the next 2 multihulls didn't finish until Nov 30th. One multihull (Prince de Bertange, who ported early in the race to repair) is still on the course.

Looks like the weatherliness of the monohulls gave a clear advantage in this race, working offshore to the northeast then reaching down. From the course tracks, Crepes Whaou didn't have any speed advantage until they got into the trades east of the Canary Islands.