High drama video.

Thanks Ramona,
That would have been rather frightening! One can't help but think a second line off the bow would have been less stressful., once it's off the rocks they could've eased the halyard and taken up the bow line. The rudder admittedly would make for an interesting tow.
I really thought they were going to drive it onto the rocks again when it first came off.
Thanks for sharing!

Probably need a touch up on the antifouling.

Yeah but not quite as tight as that which is applied to the sphincter.

What incompetent idiots in the powerboat. Stuff around playing with rope in the shallows while wasting precious time, and then drag the yacht sideways all through the bay.
Why couldn't they cleat the rope quickly, then tow the yacht 45degrees backwards, I.e. off the rocks and into deep water, then have the yacht drop its bower anchor?
I've had to winch my yacht off the sand, by dropping off the anchor and chain in deep water, then winching with every ounce of muscle in me, taking an hour to do so. 4 inches above floating line, with 4 tonne of yacht is not easy to do, but that is what anchors and winches are for. The powerboat in the video stuffed around while they could have cleated the rope and pulled the yacht off the rocks

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garymalmgren said..
I don't know about being idiots, Phil.
They got the boat off.
And they did it in 8 minutes.
So the playing around might have been double checking everything before the big pull. especially with that mean onshore wind.
As for dropping the anchor, there was no one on the boat when she was towed away,
So it was up to the rescue craft to drag her off and get her into deeper water then deal with other things.
She probably had to come off sideways because she the keel was wedged between rocks.
Kedging off a sand bar is a completely different game.

I agree, they did a good job. Would have looked better if they had a second line slack to the bow till they were well clear then taken the weight on the bow line. Towing her away by the bow would have just looked better.
Keel and rudder came clear of the rocks when she was heeled. I have had to remove yachts off the beach and have got away with just anchoring and winching with the rising tide. The last time with my boat I was preparing to haul her down with a halyard and water ballast to lift the keel clear of the sand but the Westerly gale and rising tide did the job for me. Best to tow yachts off the beach in the direction they are meant to travel.

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rumblefish said..

cazou34 said..
The tension on the rigging must be huge when pulling from the top of the mast no?

As soon as the boat is clear of the rocks and bottom the tension is really no more than when sailing.

If you think about it, a boat this size probably has 10mm 1x19 stays, that's 7000kg breaking force.
The halyard will go well and truly before that but I doubt the rescue rig would have more than 2000kg static pull ability.

I'd imagine less than a broach under spinnaker?

when I first saw them hooking up the rescue boat to halyard I though it was crazy but when you think about the fact the whole bay maybe too shallow for the yachts keel it was probably a clever idea to keep her heeled over

Nice bit of high drama! Well to me at least, maybe for these guys its probably a normal day at the office.
Didn't know where to look, was waiting for the main to open up horizontally as they passed the ferry and the official boat to windward to get trampled asunder.
Man that's close.

Edit: I'd really love to know if you get a ripping cross current through where they are. I'm trying to work out if this is normal leeway or current affected.