To me If they had deployed a sea anchor on board they could have used that to straighten the boat so at least the wind would have been coming from behind the boat and with a small sail it would have given them stability
what other scenarios do you think could have been used ?
Im not criticizing there rescue but looking forward to a better result I my boat was in that situation but it wont as my steering has been thoroughly inspected and repaired and out come on this web site is valuable info for all
And would it be better to sea anchor off the bow or stern depending on the design of the yacht and it size and weight
yeah its easy to ask why. what, how, what could you do...i reckon it would have been bloody scary, but i also reckon that boat is drfting, doing its thing.
It seems that when these things happen, most of the time the crew/skipper arent willing to divulge.
THats why steve and Linda Dashews books are awesome. They interview skippers/crew regarding rescues, deaths, dodgy situations and go through all the scenarios candidly.
Why some made it , why some didnt. What helped a small boat that made it etc. THese things help us. People not saying anything cause theyre embarressed doesnt.
Personally id like to know the state of the boat. Was the rudder and rigging checked in NZ before leaving?
Did they have a make shift rudder ready to deploy?
Did they really study the weather a bit?
Ive been aware of the pending big seas off the coast of oz for the last 2 weeks.
I hate to hear of these things. Fortunately its not often but id love to know some answers to my questions.
to me I would have used a sea anchor as a steering system and then revaluate the scenario
Probably would have been near impossible to set up but i think having these systems set up for easier handling in such conditions is important. Obviously youre gonna need a sea anchor/storm sail in a gnarly situation so it should be ready to go in a seaway - especially in the tasman!
Theyve had 10 years of this sea life. They must have done something right!
They were going for 3 days after the rudder broke so they must have had some sort of set up.
What broke ? Was it the steering gear? They would have had an emergency tiller. If more than this emergency steering is not hard to set up wash board on a spinnaker pole.
They were in a 10 year circumnavigation why would they necessarily have checked it in NZ?
Checking would be part of normal maintenance regime. Since they were both from the northern hemisphere they have probably been through much worse weather than this.
With all these things in mind why leave a boat that is floating?
They should have had some sort of drough, spare sails being scared is no reason to get rescued.
Might be a bit of a guide to others don't be a tight arse prepare properly so your not going to put others in danger.
I think the tasmans reputation is reason enough to do a bit of a yard period in nz before leaving.
I also think you should be monitoring the weather the whole way over even if it costs sat phone money etc.
When we left syd to go to nz on the motor yacht we diverted to brisbane after a day sailing due to weather.
Im not sure I'd be comfortable going across the tasman blindly. This current weather was predicted over a week ago.
I hear many stories of people abandoning perfectly good boats that go on to survive the weather with no-one on board, however I can understand the situation where it seems the best plan is to leave when you're being pummelled by bad weather with no steering. 
www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11814853
It looks like they do have a sea anchor out from the bow, unless that is just a line that fell overboard. Although its not holding the bow to the wind at all.
No doubt it would have been very scary, with the strong Stherly against the strong EAC. I haven't seen swell that big for at least 6 months or even 12 months.
Most boats will handle bad weather better than most crew. But there comes a time when you are being thrown about so violently that you risk serious injury. And there comes a time when it is utterly, absolutely, totally impossible to work on deck or to make even the simplest repair. That boat in those seas was close to that time.
Got to agree with phoenix. Comes the time when you've just got to get off. Happily it
seems the boat is going to be towed in, so they will get it back.
A lot of experienced cruising sailors get lulled into the easy life by a Pacific crossing. Then they attempt a Tasman crossing and once in a while it gets damn nasty.
I agree with HG02, running with an adjustable drogue rigged for steering may have prevented a rolling. Lying beam on in big seas seems a risky tactic.
Select to expand quoteRingle said..
A lot of experienced cruising sailors get lulled into the easy life by a Pacific crossing. Then they attempt a Tasman crossing and once in a while it gets damn nasty.
I agree with HG02, running with an adjustable drogue rigged for steering may have prevented a rolling. Lying beam on in big seas seems a risky tactic.
They had already rigged emergency steering and thought they could make Sydney when the emergency rig failed, so maybe they had lost their drogue - pure speculation, of course. And with a heavy long keel boat lying hull to, drifting sideways at only a knot or two, would a drogue rig be able to bite enough to get such a heavy boat to run. They had 10 years experience, knew their boat. They were the ones on board and made the call and the call led to no loss of life, so it's difficult to find fault.
www.jordanseriesdrogue.com/
That Spray is going to be out there for a very long time.
The police boat was very impressive
This is getting a very familiar story.
Pacific crossing, then a Tasman crossing and abandonment.
Boat still afloat but I want to get off!
Guess this is what you get when you inexperienced people on the Tasman in autumn.
A pacific crossing does not make you experienced.
South of 30south on a say 10 day passage to new Zealand you are also going to get smashed somewhere.
Once upon a time it was a disgrace to leave a perfectly good boat.
A boat without steering is still a perfectly good boat.
It is afloat and the water is not coming in.
Call me harsh.
And I glad that us taxpayers picked up the bill to get two uninjured people on their dream cruise off a boat in a storm when it went wrong.
Select to expand quotelydia said..
This is getting a very familiar story.
Pacific crossing, then a Tasman crossing and abandonment.
Boat still afloat but I want to get off!
Guess this is what you get when you inexperienced people on the Tasman in autumn.
A pacific crossing does not make you experienced.
South of 30south on a say 10 day passage to new Zealand you are also going to get smashed somewhere.
Once upon a time it was a disgrace to leave a perfectly good boat.
A boat without steering is still a perfectly good boat.
It is afloat and the water is not coming in.
Call me harsh.
And I glad that us taxpayers picked up the bill to get two uninjured people on their dream cruise off a boat in a storm when it went wrong.
This is pretty much what I was getting at.
What's even worse is people planning on doing these sorts of trips and not being prepared probably in the first place.
A long distant cruising is not the place to be a tight arse. If you can't afford it or have the experience you are just going to endanger rescuers lives.
Did Andy set off underprepared or cutting corners trying to do it cheap ? Even he had troubles at the start had to spend more money to get it right.
Just read the news report, which has them 210 km north east of Sydney but I would be guessing that it is actually ENE and right on top of the Taupo seamount. If they are further north then the Barcoo seamount.
And as everyone knows, stay well off the seamounts on a big southerly!
That is a RULE.
Sailing from Sydney to Fiji one July, we got quite a pasting north east of Lord Howe in a classic nasty Tasman low.
A week later we arrived in Fiji with a squally (but only bumpy) last night of sailing in 30-35 knots... 2 reefs in the main and a no 4.
As we were clearing customs there were two circumnavigating crews just arrived in from Samoa and they were rolling their eyes at the terrible storm they'd just come through.
Yes Lydia, I believe you are being harsh. These guys have 10 years experience, considerably more than just a pleasant Pacific crossing.
And why is everybody assuming that they were ill prepared? Has everybody been fortunate enough to sail the seas for 10 years without anything going wrong? Never making a dubious decision? Never recognize that luck can play a part in the best planned event?
It is not the preparation or bad luck, they got off the boat.
For my part I would like to know why?
Seasick wet and tired is not an answer.
Different if life threatening injury.
Like the line in the movie "never get off the god damn boat"
Once upon a time you never second guessed another masters decision but that is not now.
Select to expand quotePhoenixStar said..
Yes Lydia, I believe you are being harsh. These guys have 10 years experience, considerably more than just a pleasant Pacific crossing.
And why is everybody assuming that they were ill prepared? Has everybody been fortunate enough to sail the seas for 10 years without anything going wrong? Never making a dubious decision? Never recognize that luck can play a part in the best planned event?
agree 100%
I dunno where this " being a tight arse" came from. An assumption really. All the money in thw world doesnt matter in some situations. a few have come a cropper on that crossing and they werent "ill prepared" or tight arses.
Select to expand quotelydia said..
It is not the preparation or bad luck, they got off the boat.
For my part I would like to know why?
Seasick wet and tired is not an answer.
Different if life threatening injury.
Like the line in the movie "never get off the god damn boat"
Once upon a time you never second guessed another masters decision but that is not now.
With very little information available at present, I think people should be very cautious with their armchair analysis.
One piece of information conveyed by the master was that whilst they were inverted (and I think, not for the first time) they wondered whether the boat would right itself this time.
He said they judged their life was more important than the boat - meaning, they considered they would probably die if they did not call for help.
I was not there, so I don't have enough information to judge the soundness of their decision.
regards,
allan
Best and cheapest place to run and hide is behind a island . I don't think the big spray houseboats are best sea boats even with a sea anchor / drouge would have been horrible. If the steering broke the they properly had not much choice. If it was a double ender or a a yacht with nice lines it would possibly get to safe shelter.
there has been two lows creating some weather of the Nsw coast in the past week. Lucky with the outcome really!
I think there must have been a rouge set of waves it would take a lot to move a spray of that size
they dont move around much coming over bar
Did I miss something here? Like the start of this thread? Or a link, maybe? Sounds like an interesting story, but I have no idea who/what is in trouble in the first place!
Spray type designed yachts are fairly hard to kill and usually sea kindly.
I have a total aversion to them, particularly if it is a "Robert's Spray".
One cannot deny though that if watertight integrity is maintained, roll them 6 times and they will still float, and floating is what we all require.
So by all means, if all you want to do is stay afloat and you do not care how long it takes to get where you want to go, get a "Spray".
Quote from the skipper:
"We weren't at all sure whether the boat was going to turn upright or whether we were going to see a burst of water coming through the door into the aft cabin and that was the end of that.
"We were lucky enough that the boat did come back up and subsequently we got knocked over again several times and we just took a hell of a battering.
"We encountered enormous seas, waves the size of buildings coming at you constantly, winds that you can't stand up in and seas breaking, whiteness everywhere."
This reminds me of a knockdown that Pete Goss and crew experienced on Spirit of Mystery 350 nauticle miles south west of Portland when doing their re enactment voyage. Goss was standing in the companionway with the hatch open when the wave hit, the boat went beyond horizontal and took a fair amount of water down the hatch, the life raft and dingy where lost and damage to the bulwarks was sustained. The crew member on the tiller at the time suffered a broken leg.
