Beneteau 40.7 Cheeki Rafiki missing Mid-Atlantic

Q

Quagers

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Search for the liferaft called off very quickly given that there was a sighting of the upturned hull by a container ship? This was a commercially coded vessel which in the UK means it must have been carrying an EPIRB.

I was almost on this delivery, absolutely shocking and very close to home.

 
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G

gregj1

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the article says the epirb was activated giving 'general gps co-ordinates' wft does that mean? I thought those things were pretty accurate.

hope the crew finds a way thru - those are gnarly conditions to be in a life raft

 
ProaSailor

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Matagi said:
More here

http://m.bbc.com/news/uk-27462450
Click to expand...
US Coast Guard spokesman Rob Simpson said it had "saturated the area" in a two-day search and "we would have found them" if it had been possible.

...

Three US and Canadian aircraft and three merchant vessels looked for them on Friday and Saturday 1,000 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

...

Winds were said to have been blowing at more than 50mph, the sea reached heights of up to 20ft and visibility was reduced to under a mile.

...

an overturned hull had been spotted by a container ship involved in the search "that did look like it may have been the sailing vessel". However, the ship did not stop to inspect the hull because nobody was seen on board.
Click to expand...
 
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P

Potter

Super Anarchist
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So a ship spotted an upturned hull in the general area that an EPIRB has been set off, and does not investigate. What the fuck!? That is truly terrible. I hope the owners of that vessel are unable to sleep at night.

 
Keith

Keith

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The traditional coastal waters of the Orca,Grey Wh
ProaSailor said:
Matagi said:
More here

http://m.bbc.com/news/uk-27462450
Click to expand...
>>US Coast Guard spokesman Rob Simpson said it had "saturated the area" in a two-day search and "we would have found them" if it had been possible.

...

Three US and Canadian aircraft and three merchant vessels looked for them on Friday and Saturday 1,000 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

...

Winds were said to have been blowing at more than 50mph, the sea reached heights of up to 20ft and visibility was reduced to under a mile.

...

an overturned hull had been spotted by a container ship involved in the search "that did look like it may have been the sailing vessel". However, the ship did not stop to inspect the hull because nobody was seen on board.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
This container ship not standing by and trying to confirm anything, like name of vessel, anyone inside, is just frightening. Whats the fucking hurry???

 
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R

RKoch

Super Anarchist
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^ perhaps weather conditions prevented standing by the over-turned hull. We probably don't know all the facts. If it WAS possible to stand by, and the ship just hurried on to keep schedule, then the captain has a lot of 'splainin' to do.

 
Q

Quagers

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From the article it sounded like the EPIRB that they received was from a personal EPIRB rather than the boats main one. That might explain the vague co-ordinates and the short battery life?

Coast guard spokesman Mr Simpson told the BBC on Sunday that two of the yachtmen's locator beacons had been activated, providing it with some "general GPS co-ordinates".
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The spokesman said: 'We searched with multiple assets over 4,000 square miles for pings from the vessel's personal locator beacons.

'After receiving no more transmissions we believe that we would have found them by now if we were going to find them.

'These beacons are small devices and the ones being used have a very short battery life.'
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Raises the question of why the main EPIRB was not activated, maybe a sudden capsize, especially if the keel failed as some reports say the upturned hull had no keel.

Also sailworld fucking up big time with a picture of a Delher 34 labelled as 'Cheeki Rafiki - Antigua Race Week'

http://www.sail-world.com/UK/Four-British-yachtsmen-lost-at-sea---Yacht-Cheeki-Rafiki/122248

 
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Q

Quagers

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Guardian article has more info on the crew,

The four were described as very experienced yachtsmen and Bridge, the youngest of the group, as a highly qualified skipper.

It is believed that Goslin and Warren, who were coastal skippers, had volunteered to do the transatlantic crossing.

Bridge had two high-level yachtmaster qualifications from the Royal Yachtmaster Association that meant he could skipper a yacht a minimum non-stop distance of 600 miles.

To qualify for the yachtmaster ocean certificate, a skipper must have been at sea continuously for at least 96 hours and the yacht must have been more than 50 miles from land while sailing a distance of at least 200 miles.

Bridge, nicknamed "the bear", was described as "undoubtedly one of the top bowmen in the country" in a biography on Stormforce's website. It said: "He was formerly bowman onboard Encore (First 40.7) when it won its fleet in the 2010 Round Britain & Ireland Race and was the 1st First 40.7 in the Fastnet 2009 race.

"He has won numerous RORC English channel races and has raced onboard Cheeki Rafiki with Ifan countless times, again with several podium positions to his name. Andy is a yachtmaster offshore and keelboat instructor."

The 21-year-old is believed to have competed in the Royal Ocean Racing Club Caribbean 600 event in Antigua in February this year, taking the role of first mate on the Cheeki Rafiki for the four-day race involving 60 boats.
Click to expand...
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/may/18/four-british-yachtsmen-missing-atlantic

 
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H

Hwyl

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The US Coast Guard were in the same piece of real estate on Thursday. http://www.uscgnews.com/go/doc/4007/2163686/ That's a rescue that went well.

Sounds like this yooung man had a Yachtmaster Ocean, many schools fast track this qualification and have devalued it.

Let's hope for the best, if they are in a liferaft with no EPIRB, there is a good chance they would not be spotted from the air, but they are in a high traffic area this time of year.

 
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H

Hwyl

Anarchist
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I have an Ocean but got it in the dark ages. Pre GPS.

Sounds like this guy had done some miles though,

Crossing fingers again.

 
T

TQA

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UK sources report that boat was carrying an EPIRB but it was not activated. 2 PLB EPIRBs were activated, about 30 mins apart.

 
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