Crew Swept Overboard

[pipsqueak]

story link

A woman swept overboard in the ill-fated North American Rally To The Caribbean [NARC] Newport-Bermuda regatta had asked friends and family not to worry about the vessel's stormy passage to the island in a blog updating the yacht's progress.

 

American Jan Anderson, sailing with her husband Rob, was lost overboard from her cruising sailboat "Triple Stars" on Friday [Nov.11] approximately 285 miles northwest of Bermuda.

 

According to the US Coast Guard report, a radio call from Rob Anderson stated that his wife Jan had been swept overboard by a 30-foot wave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mark1977]

sooo sad.....

 

[Ritchard]

Horrible.

 

[smackdaddy]

The NARC and Carib 1500 are separate rallies/races right?

 

[estarzinger]

The NARC and Carib 1500 are separate rallies/races right?

Same thing.

sorry, but no, they are quite different rallys

http://www.worldcruising.com/carib1500/

Carrib 1500 started from Norfoilk on Friday (11/11). Its now owned and run by the quite professional World Cruising Club, which organize the ARC and also own noonsite.

 

NARC started from Newport on (10/30). Its owned and operated by Offshore Passage Opportunities, which is a crew networking/placement service, run by Hank Schmitt. I think it would be fair to describe it as a significantly more casual rally than the Carribean 1500.

 

[Mark1977]

The NARC and Carib 1500 are separate rallies/races right?

Same thing.

sorry, but no, they are quite different rallys

http://www.worldcruising.com/carib1500/

Carrib 1500 started from Norfoilk on Friday (11/11). Its now owned and run by the quite professional World Cruising Club, which organize the ARC and also own noonsite.

 

NARC started from Newport on (10/30). Its owned and operated by Offshore Passage Opportunities, which is a crew networking/placement service, run by Hank Schmitt. I think it would be fair to describe it as a significantly more casual rally than the Carribean 1500.

Wow that was quick.... you got that before i deleted it...... I'm having another beer............

 

[sam_crocker]

Lots of breakdowns and outside assistance:



http://bernews.com/2011/11/yacht-rally-racers-rescued-from-stormy-seas/

Yacht Rally Racers Rescued From Stormy Seas

November 7, 2011

http://bernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Oleander.jpgThe North American Rally To The Caribbean’s [NARC] Newport-Bermuda race has been disrupted by [/URL]the weekend’s savage storms, with the cargo ship “Oleander” picking up four survivors from one abandoned yacht yesterday [Nov.6]. And another participating vessel was helped into the island by the pilot boat “St. George” and the tug “Powerful” this morning [Nov. 7] Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre reported this morning that continuing high winds and occasional gale-force conditions at sea had played havoc with the cruising rally participants who set out from Rhode Island for Bermuda on October 30. “At approximately 3:30 pm yesterday, the crew of M/v ‘Oleander’ was involved in the successful recovery of four survivors from the 46 foot sailing vessel “Elle” a NARC rally participant, located approximately 200 miles northwest of Bermuda,” said a Maritime Operations spokesman. The captain of “Elle” decided to abandon their vessel having encountered steering failure & subsequent injury to a crew member — bruised ribs — in 30-35 knot winds with seas ranging from 20 – 30 feet.

 

 

 

“The ”Oleander’, en route, from New Jersey to Bermuda was diverted to the distress position and has since arrived in Hamilton Harbour this morning where the crew members were landed ashore. One of the survivors wished to express his gratitude for the professionalism shown by the captain and crew of the Oleander during the rescue operation.” The “Oleander” is operated by Bermuda Container Lines.

 

 

Early this morning another NARC rally participant, the 49-foot “Riot” suffered steering failure on final approach to St. George’s Harbour and issued a distress call. “Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre tasked the Pilot boat ‘St. George’ and tug ‘Powerful’ to assist the vessel with winds averaging 30-35 knots during the rescue operation and attempts being made to keep the sailing vessel clear of the reef structure.” said the Marine Operations spokesman. “The yacht ‘Riot’, with six persons onboard, was safely guided into St. George’s Harbour a short while later.

 

 

 

 

The annual NARC rally attracts veteran offshore sailors and professionally crewed boats and is described as “a grass-roots” affair for seasoned mariners.

 

 

In Bermuda the St. Georges Dinghy and Sports Club is hosting NARC participants who, after filling up on fuel, were then scheduled to head to the final rally destination, St. Maarten in the Caribbean.

 

The crew of another sailing vessel not entered in the rally, “Spring Moon”, were also rescued 550 miles southwest Bermuda yesterday. “At 12.20 local time on Sunday [Nov 6.], Cable ship ‘Ocean’ was diverted to a position 550 miles southwest of Bermuda to recover three crew members from sailing vessel ‘Spring Moon’,” said Marine Operations. “Cable ship ‘Ocean’ is due to disembark the three survivors at the east end of Bermuda tomorrow afternoon. Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre said it is also in contact with a number of other sailing vessels presently offshore which have suffered rigging failure or are hove to due to present weather conditions.

 



 

 

 

[Cruisin Loser]

A tragic loss which should be sobering for all of us who venture offshore with family. My prayers are with Mrs. Anderson and her loved ones.

I hope more information is forthcoming about the circumstances. Was she clipped in? If so, did any specific gear (tether, harness, jackline) fail?

 

[The Advocate]

Yes, very sad.

Is my recollection wrong, but haven't we herd something about this Hank guy before?

 

[Hwyl]

The NARC and Carib 1500 are separate rallies/races right?

Same thing.

sorry, but no, they are quite different rallys

http://www.worldcruising.com/carib1500/

Carrib 1500 started from Norfoilk on Friday (11/11). Its now owned and run by the quite professional World Cruising Club, which organize the ARC and also own noonsite.

 

NARC started from Newport on (10/30). Its owned and operated by Offshore Passage Opportunities, which is a crew networking/placement service, run by Hank Schmitt. I think it would be fair to describe it as a significantly more casual rally than the Carribean 1500.

TThe quite professional World Cruising clb, has lost people in both last years Caribbean 1500 and the ARC. let's not prejudge my friend Hank until the facts are in. He to my knowledge is concerned with safety and employs a world class weather router.

It is time to send condolences to the family

 

[estarzinger]

NARC . . . run by Hank Schmitt. I think it would be fair to describe it as a significantly more casual rally than the Carribean 1500.

 

 

let's not prejudge my friend Hank until the facts are in.

I know Hank reasonably well, and can tell quite a few 'Hank stories". . . but I was not "prejudging" Hawk with my comment. The NARC has intentionally been designed to be a 'more casual' rally for those who want that. Nothing wrong with that, so long as the participants understand it. And when the NARC started, most of the 'weather experts' did not think the low that became sean would be very significant. The various models did not predict it very well. But some early and significant 'in route' rerouting was justified and necessary as Sean evolved and became more clearly a threat. I am not sure how well that was handled by the NARC fleet.

 

Just FYI, I just finished a delivery to the BVI (arrived on the 9th). We left the evening of the 1st from Norfolk, just as the 'Halloween storm' abated. We had information/input from two of the 'brand name' shore weather routers and both said we were nuts, that the models showed we would have 40kts in the gulf stream and large breaking waves and that we should wait until the 3rd. At that point they were not so concerned with the low that turned into Sean, they seemed to think it would be a typical frontal system without that much punch and moving thru reasonably quickly - just the normal sort of think you usually have to deal with at least once on a run to the Caribbean.

 

But sitting there on the boat, it was obvious that the weather on the 1st was clearing much faster than the models predicted, so we felt we would have a brisk but quite safe gulf stream crossing and we were more concerned with getting out in front of the second low (what turned into Sean) both because our experience is that those sort of lows can (and in this case did) intensify 'unexpectedly' and because we wanted to use it to 'slingshot' with the northerly winds on its western side but did not want to get pinched too far to the west/too near the coast to do so.

 

We had a brisk but terrific safe and fast run. Generally 30kts sustained for the first couple days with occasional squalls with initial winds into the 40's and one squall with initial winds into the low 50's, waves not so bad once we were thru the north wall of the gulf stream. We had a good, well prepared boat, and more importantly an experienced team on board who all loved pushing the boat and were comfortable with the brisk conditions.

 

As you probably know, the 'normal' routing for this trip is to get over to 65west (called 'I65' by the delivery captains) by about 26N in order to have enough easting when you hit the trades. It sounds like many of the NARC boats were following this typical route. But it was obvious even quite early (before the 1st) that this was not the year to do that and that it made sense to stay further west to stay on the favorable side of the potentially development low.

 

If you went to sea during that period, and 'the plan' was heading to Bermuda (or even hard over toward I65) and then onto the Caribbean, I would suggest you should have changed your plan as Sean's development because obvious. One option would be to do as Herb was recommending on the SSB net - essentially just to relax and heave-to for 4 or 5 days until sean cleared out, OR I would probably have changed routing to slingshot around the western side of Sean and direct onto the Caribbean. Continuing onto Bermuda was going to put you right in the path with wind direction becoming increasingly unfavorable.

 

We do have a friend who sailed a valient 42 right thru the middle of Sean into its eye, as he could not get further west fast enough. No major boat damage and no injuries - good seamanship. They were running with storm jib in 30-35kts sustained for several days. So the conditions even right down the middle were not impossible.

 

That all said, generally it seems from reading between the lines of the news reports (which are notoriously inaccurate) that most of the boats abandoned were due to 'crew failure' in continuing tough conditions, with more predicted to come, and with panic spreading on the SSB nets. The boats seem to generally have held up pretty well, with the specific reinforced reminder to be sure to double check your steering cables before heading offshore. I am really curious to learn how the woman was swept off the boat, and then what sort of effort the captain made to recover her. If any boat could have hove-to comfortably I would have thought it would be an Island Packet.

 

And yes, heart felt condolences to this family, and to all those who lost boats. It was a tough year and I think the best tribute the sailing community can make is to learn as much as it can from the results of that testing.

 

 

[Bryanjb]

Obviously condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of the woman who was lost overboard.

This is probably too early and the wrong spot but I'm really starting to wonder if some of these folks have the experience or the boat for these trips. Are people being sold the sizzle? Sailing is not all palm trees and drinks with little fucking umbrellas. Often sailing conditions suck and occasionally it's dangerous. I wonder how many of these people have sailed in 35 knots?

Ok, again condolances........maybe a different thread.

 

[Soñadora]

the more I learn the less I'm interested in doing anything like that. The thought of losing my wife during something like that is just inconceivable.

condolences to the family



Also, it's my understanding that Autumn is a risky time to be heading to Bermuda.

 

[Not My Real Name]

the more I learn the less I'm interested in doing anything like that. The thought of losing my wife during something like that is just inconceivable.

condolences to the family



Also, it's my understanding that Autumn is a risky time to be heading to Bermuda.

The thought of losing any family member that way is awful. But if you are going to cross oceans you have to get out there and do it.

We're looking to the the Caribbean 1500 next year as our jumping off point to the Caribbean. Our thinking is that although we will have some more over night passage time under our belts than we have now (which is not zero, but it's not all that much either) we still will not have made a trip of that length as a family. Better to do it the first time in the company of others with a ground support team, and maybe even an extra crew member or two.

We've talked a lot to the C1500 people and attended one of their seminars last spring when our initial plan was to be in this year's rally. They seem to do an OK job with experience vetting, in that they do ask you quite a bit about your experience and aren't shy about trying to hook you up with a couple more bodies if they think you could use it. We didn't get as far as registration this year so I don't know how hard they really press the point once you are committed to going. They seem to put a high degree of effort into safety, planning and proper equipping.

The 1500 didn't leave this year until last Friday, which is a late start, because of the weather window being pretty slammed shut with Sean & Co. They typically don't leave before November, primarily for insurance reasons as most people's policies aren't going to cover them until hurricane season ends.

For us, at some point we need to make the off shore jump and figure it's best to do it this way. We could also do a shorter series of hops - down the coast, over to the Bahamas, bump our bottom down through the Bahamas etc. But I think I prefer the get it done in one shot in the fall approach. It will be better preparation for us for the longer passages we plan to be doing in the Pacific some day.

http://www.worldcruising.com/carib1500/viewer.aspx

There is a sister ship to us named Destiny doing this year's event.

 

[Innocent Bystander]

the more I learn the less I'm interested in doing anything like that. The thought of losing my wife during something like that is just inconceivable.

condolences to the family



Also, it's my understanding that Autumn is a risky time to be heading to Bermuda.

Sons,

Problem is the hurricane season and going south before 1 Nov is risky as ssytems can develop quickly while you are enroute. Heading to the Carib before the end of the hurrican season is also prohibited by a lot of insurance companies. From the Mid Atlantic coast north, Bermuda is a prefectly acceptible waypoint to get to the Carib. Statistically, you are going to get pasted by a significant front or low pressure system as they come through regularly this time of year. While Sean was unusual, it does hapen.

A lot of folks are moving to these rallies to have "safety in numbers" and share the cost of professional weather routing, etc. An unfortunate trend is that a rally can often put schedule pressure on departure times. Sometimes that's good for a newbie as it's easy to find reasons to stay in the harbor. On the other hand, once a fleet is gathered there is a lot of pressure to not delay, even when the conditions suggest a delay may be prudent. I think overall rallies are good things but folks should pick one that meets their needs. A casual approach is completely sufficient for experienced folks. Something more structured such as the Carib 1500 is excellent for less experienced voyagers.

 

[beauvrolyk]

The best thing I learned out cruising was what Jim Corenmen used to say aboard Heart of Gold: "I got no schedule and I'm sticking to it."

IB's point about schedules leading to sailing at the wrong time is exactly correct. Sadly, he was just proven right.

BV

 

[Rasputin22]

The problem with the Caribbean 1500 is the Norfolk departure. Look at how it has the participants 'run the gauntlet' so to speak of Cape Hatteras, a particularly notorious area. I think that they now offer the option of doodling down the IC and shoving off from somewhere south of Hatteras such as Ocracoke, but then you have a similar situation with Cape Lookout. They old salts didn't name it that for a reason! Same with Cape Fear. Beaufort, NC would be my choice as you are south of Hatteras and Cape Lookout but not much further west than Norfolk but then they would have to change the name to the Caribbean 1250 or something like that

 

[Jackdaw]

Heartbreaking.. the families blog here.

http://www.sailblogs.com/member/triplestars/

 

[estarzinger]

We're looking to the the Caribbean 1500 next year as our jumping off point to the Caribbean.

The 1500 is a decent vehicle to force you to prepare and be ready for a departure date. . . But in prep I would be sure #1 you and your whole crew do the SAS including the in-water section, and #2 hire a good delivery captain for a day to walk over your boat with you and make suggestions about specific offshore preparation (from sealing the windless chain houser to checking the steering cable tension, to wire tying all shackle pins, to labeled water bottles for each crew member to prevent dehydration, etc etc), and #3 make absolutely sure you have your weather forecasting set-up installed and tested working and know practically how to use it to make routing decisions. And then when the rally departure date comes close by I suggest you sort of mentally remove yourself from the rally and make your own decision - you don't want to be stuck with a date nor with the mass gossip and committe decision making that so often ends up in sub-optimal decisions.