Capsize
There cannot be a skipper in what remains of the Vendee Glove fleet today, who has not been contemplating the nightmare of a southern ocean capsize, after the rescue of Jean Le Cam yesterday from his upturned boat, VM Materieaux.
I'm only just catching up on the drama as I was in the air all yesterday, heading for Singapore. While the good news is that Le Cam is safe after hours of uncertainty, it is far from clear just now whether Vincent Riou, whose, boat Brit Air, was damaged in the rescue, will be able to continue the race.
It looks like Le Cam escaped from a hatch in the bottom of his upturned boat before he was winched out of the water by Riou on PRB. There were shades of the Tony Bullimore rescue in the 1997 race.
A tanker was soon on the scene and stood by Le Cam's upturned yacht but the crew could not reach it. Riou, however,was able to get to the scene in time and make contact with his fellow Frenchaman.
There will need to be an investigation of the incident but it is clear that the capsize happened after the loss of the bulb on the canting keel. When the race is over the organisers will need to take a long hard look at their rules on keel designs because too many keel failures are endangering skippers in top flight ocean racing.
Mike Golding lost his keel near the end of the last Vendee Globe race and keel damage put paid to Dominique Wavre's race in December.
Two areas need to be examined: the hinge design that allows the keel to cant and the bulb design. Unlike traditional flared keels that can ride over a collision, the torpedo shaped bulbs can sustain juddering impacts if they hit a submerged obstacle such as a chunk of ice, a container or a whale. If these designs are increasing risk it might be time to revert to something with proven seaworthiness. There has to be a balance between speed and safety and skippers should not be sailing on tenterhooks in fear of a capsize that could happen without warning. Keel design is raising increasing concerns and needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
I'm only just catching up on the drama as I was in the air all yesterday, heading for Singapore. While the good news is that Le Cam is safe after hours of uncertainty, it is far from clear just now whether Vincent Riou, whose, boat Brit Air, was damaged in the rescue, will be able to continue the race.
It looks like Le Cam escaped from a hatch in the bottom of his upturned boat before he was winched out of the water by Riou on PRB. There were shades of the Tony Bullimore rescue in the 1997 race.
A tanker was soon on the scene and stood by Le Cam's upturned yacht but the crew could not reach it. Riou, however,was able to get to the scene in time and make contact with his fellow Frenchaman.
There will need to be an investigation of the incident but it is clear that the capsize happened after the loss of the bulb on the canting keel. When the race is over the organisers will need to take a long hard look at their rules on keel designs because too many keel failures are endangering skippers in top flight ocean racing.
Mike Golding lost his keel near the end of the last Vendee Globe race and keel damage put paid to Dominique Wavre's race in December.
Two areas need to be examined: the hinge design that allows the keel to cant and the bulb design. Unlike traditional flared keels that can ride over a collision, the torpedo shaped bulbs can sustain juddering impacts if they hit a submerged obstacle such as a chunk of ice, a container or a whale. If these designs are increasing risk it might be time to revert to something with proven seaworthiness. There has to be a balance between speed and safety and skippers should not be sailing on tenterhooks in fear of a capsize that could happen without warning. Keel design is raising increasing concerns and needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Labels: Brian Thompson, Brit Air, Dominique Wavre, Jean Le Cam, Tony Bullimore, Vendee Globe, Vincent Riou, VM Materieaux
posted by Richard Donkin at
9:59 AM
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