RAINMAKER DISMASTED OFF HATTERAS IN GALE

[Jaybird]

Today's installment of the story sheds more light than I expected. Bravo.

Only three people to clear the rig is tough. But it was daylight. Pull pins, shoot the standing rigging, cut halyards and wires. Lots of cutting. Don't forget the sails.

The mast looked like it was in three pieces. Throw them away one at a time. It likely was possible.

Engaging the props was a rookie mistake. Sorry, being in a hurry is no excuse.

If both engines had remained operational they "might" have been able to stay aboard.

But with panicked passengers I support the decision to bail, two engines or no engines.

I will never ever understand the attempt to board the freighter.

edit to add. I have cleared a down rig in six foot seas.

I was amazed they could pull even the head stay pin. Do you how hard it is to 'pop' pins of a rig that size which is half off the boat, in breeze and seas? And I saw your post about 6' seas. Cutting through carbon or pbo shrouds is not fun either in a washing machine. Did you miss the part about cutting hydraulic lines? I'm sure the monster rig you cleared had those as well. Not to mention under pressure during cutting them. Now at this point, your suggestions for not forgetting the sails, confuses me. What part do you not want to forget? That they go over the side with the rest?
Lastly the comment about not engaging the props is asinine. Did you think maybe the sheets got wrapped in the shaft when the rig went over the side? If they were not in a hurry how long or far do you suggest they drift disabled before engaging them? If they weren't making rookie mistakes...

Pull pins on blocks and control lines. Shoot the standing rigging afterward. The boat had a rig cutter. Cut the sails so that each piece of the rig is separate.
If all the pieces of the rig are gone one more check for lines in the water and then engage the props.

Yeah, drift until you clean-up.

I'm guessing most of the rig, and sails, were overboard if they were able to what sounds like pretty easily drive out from under it. Why bother pulling pins on blocks and control lines when you have a handy dandy knife for the lines.

And as for cleanup before engines, the sheets, and I'm assuming, went overboard with the rest of the yard sale and how would their cleanup onboard have alerted them the sheets had ended up around a shaft, prop or strut?

The rig was in the water hung up by the boom on the coachroof. There was no way to cut up and discard anything. Several efforts to free the boom were a bust. The butt of the mast having been freed was sloshing around close to the hull and they were worried that it could hole the boat. They engaged the engine and tried to turn the boat sideways to the seas hoping that the rolling motion would lift the rig and free the boom. It worked, pretty creative thinking under the circumstances.

 

[Trickypig]

I am a newbie to this forum and am prepared for the blasting I am sure is coming

Been sailing for over 50 years. Caught in a hurricane off Jax trying to get to Charleston in a crappy old Morgan. Back then no epirb, GPS or Satphone. Waited for storm to go into Gulf headed for NOLA. Instead the mutha tracked back across FL and chased us up the coast. 75kts and 35' seas breaking at the spreaders. Tore up storm sails and bare poled it to Charleston with makeshift trysail.

My points are:

Forecast was accurate - Why leave? NTSB stats on plane crashes are full of "continued flight into adverse weather"

Sailing in "Forecasted" front passage with 40kts of wind on Autopilot? No one was driving the boat that could have reacted to the squall and reduce loading!

When was the last time you saw a yacht racing crew offshore in 40kts on autopilot? Watch not wearing foul weather gear!

IMHO we have become so reliant on technology that complacency has displaced seamanship. I don't think there is an issue with the boat. They are built better than 99% of the sailboats that have circumnavigated the world. The issue is the most common and simple one; "Pilot Error" or as my dad always said:

"you cant fix stupid"

I agree about over reliance on technology but in this case attributing this emergency to the use of an autopilot is a stretch.
110 apparent is a pretty deep angle for a performance multi. The true wind would have been well aft. In those conditions I'm certain the on watch would have been awake and focussed. The standby button is beside the helm in any event.

There is no mention in the interview of where the skipper thinks the failure in the rig was...

they were going pretty slow by then, 110 AWA not too far off from TWA in 40 knots of breeze.

He said around 10knots of boat speed so that'd be over 120 True. That's far enough aft.

 

[Jaybird]

I am a newbie to this forum and am prepared for the blasting I am sure is coming

Been sailing for over 50 years. Caught in a hurricane off Jax trying to get to Charleston in a crappy old Morgan. Back then no epirb, GPS or Satphone. Waited for storm to go into Gulf headed for NOLA. Instead the mutha tracked back across FL and chased us up the coast. 75kts and 35' seas breaking at the spreaders. Tore up storm sails and bare poled it to Charleston with makeshift trysail.

My points are:

Forecast was accurate - Why leave? NTSB stats on plane crashes are full of "continued flight into adverse weather"

Sailing in "Forecasted" front passage with 40kts of wind on Autopilot? No one was driving the boat that could have reacted to the squall and reduce loading!

When was the last time you saw a yacht racing crew offshore in 40kts on autopilot? Watch not wearing foul weather gear!

IMHO we have become so reliant on technology that complacency has displaced seamanship. I don't think there is an issue with the boat. They are built better than 99% of the sailboats that have circumnavigated the world. The issue is the most common and simple one; "Pilot Error" or as my dad always said:

"you cant fix stupid"

We sailed 5000 miles on a GB 66 most of it letting otto drive and it did a better job than the humans. I have no problem that they were using it. Most of the other Gunboat skippers on this thread have stated that they would leave on this weather routing, I will take their assessment over yours, Coming from somebody that sailed a pos Morgan offshore in a hurricane, stupid is as stupid does.

 

[DryArmour]

I am a newbie to this forum and am prepared for the blasting I am sure is coming

Been sailing for over 50 years. Caught in a hurricane off Jax trying to get to Charleston in a crappy old Morgan. Back then no epirb, GPS or Satphone. Waited for storm to go into Gulf headed for NOLA. Instead the mutha tracked back across FL and chased us up the coast. 75kts and 35' seas breaking at the spreaders. Tore up storm sails and bare poled it to Charleston with makeshift trysail.

My points are:

Forecast was accurate - Why leave? NTSB stats on plane crashes are full of "continued flight into adverse weather"

Sailing in "Forecasted" front passage with 40kts of wind on Autopilot? No one was driving the boat that could have reacted to the squall and reduce loading!

When was the last time you saw a yacht racing crew offshore in 40kts on autopilot? Watch not wearing foul weather gear!

IMHO we have become so reliant on technology that complacency has displaced seamanship. I don't think there is an issue with the boat. They are built better than 99% of the sailboats that have circumnavigated the world. The issue is the most common and simple one; "Pilot Error" or as my dad always said:

"you cant fix stupid"

I agree about over reliance on technology but in this case attributing this emergency to the use of an autopilot is a stretch.
110 apparent is a pretty deep angle for a performance multi. The true wind would have been well aft. In those conditions I'm certain the on watch would have been awake and focussed. The standby button is beside the helm in any event.

There is no mention in the interview of where the skipper thinks the failure in the rig was...

they were going pretty slow by then, 110 AWA not too far off from TWA in 40 knots of breeze.

He said around 10knots of boat speed so that'd be over 120 apparent. That's far enough aft.

In a velocity header that 110AWA could become 70AWA in a heart beat and the Autopilots reaction would be to steer down hard. That loads the rudders, the leeward bow and if you were running into the back of a swell the momentary loads could get ridiculous quickly as the boat cannot accelerate as designed. I could see a rig failure given this scenario.

 

[surfsailor]

I am a newbie to this forum and am prepared for the blasting I am sure is coming

Been sailing for over 50 years. Caught in a hurricane off Jax trying to get to Charleston in a crappy old Morgan. Back then no epirb, GPS or Satphone. Waited for storm to go into Gulf headed for NOLA. Instead the mutha tracked back across FL and chased us up the coast. 75kts and 35' seas breaking at the spreaders. Tore up storm sails and bare poled it to Charleston with makeshift trysail.

My points are:

Forecast was accurate - Why leave? NTSB stats on plane crashes are full of "continued flight into adverse weather"

Sailing in "Forecasted" front passage with 40kts of wind on Autopilot? No one was driving the boat that could have reacted to the squall and reduce loading!

When was the last time you saw a yacht racing crew offshore in 40kts on autopilot? Watch not wearing foul weather gear!

IMHO we have become so reliant on technology that complacency has displaced seamanship. I don't think there is an issue with the boat. They are built better than 99% of the sailboats that have circumnavigated the world. The issue is the most common and simple one; "Pilot Error" or as my dad always said:

"you cant fix stupid"

We sailed 5000 miles on a GB 66 most of it letting otto drive and it did a better job than the humans. I have no problem that they were using it. Most of the other Gunboat skippers on this thread have stated that they would leave on this weather routing, I will take their assessment over yours, Coming from somebody that sailed a pos Morgan offshore in a hurricane, stupid is as stupid does.

Yet the POS Morgan survived - an actual hurricane, no less. Go figure.

 

[Trickypig]

That video is nothing short of disturbing. My bullshit detector is pegged at 70 kts. A microburst of bullshit.

I'm sure he believes what he's saying.

2-3 days now from Newport to Edgartown on a monohull. Did they move it ?

If that's the sales pitch Cohen got, he probably is suing.

I've always loved the gunboats but I agree with you on PJ's presentation.

Muddlespeak of "25 projects and 70 owners" … so how many boats does that actually equate to?

2,000,000 nm sailed. If it's 25 boats GBs that's 80,000nm average per boat…. really?

perfomance cruising catamaran a `completely new' idea in 2000? Don't tell the French or any number of custom builders around the world..

"Indoors" "moonroof" etc etc… That's condo speak.

Gunboat is a success story in anyone's language but that speech was getting close to a televangilist effort. Maybe that's the key!

 

[Aliashere]

It appears that RKoch hasn't had much emergency offshore training. Shocker.

Surprised by this. Yachtmaster training from my recollection instructs a skipper to press the button as soon as you think you might be in shit. Pan Pan for ankle deep and mayday for deep shit. Part of the MOB procedure, even in tame conditions is to press the fricken button. You can always call back later and say you got it under control. Arguably the 1st call might have been a PAN PAN situation, but I'm not going to second guess that call. But by my training they did the right thing by calling the coasties promptly.

It appears that Rkoch also has little or no experience with real emergencies and doesn't realize how quickly things can go from bad to worse. In the middle of an emergency there is no shame in getting out while the getting is good and nobody is dead yet. The first thing a first responder does is check that the scene is secure, only a fool rushes impulsively in to a burning building or dives in to unknown waters. A major part of bravery is knowing when to stop being a hero. If you want to push beyond that point and it is only your life, go for it.

What's done is done. The boat broke and the crew were rescued.......end of story. Not really, it's probably just getting rolling. Thank god for all the Yachting and safety experts on SA, as the attorney's representing the client and his insurance company will be looking for some guidance. Without question, this will go on for quite sometime. Insurance companies don't just write off 2.5M dollar yachts. Someones going down for this and it's not going to be the guy who wrote all the checks. The real finger pointing is just about to begin. Regardless of the boat being found or not, the shit's gonna hit the fan real soon......hell it's already in route.

Not to be an ass, but Why??? What shit?? No one died, the boat is probably still floating, somewhere, so ins will get involved and take care of the losses. If the owner can afford a 2.5m boat he can probably afford someone to keep this quiet if he wants to, also if he can afford a 2.5 m boat and crew for over a year 2.5 m is probably a drop in the bucket and not that big a deal. No sense in suing the builder (what are the margins on these things anyway) and who really cares WTF a bunch of guys on a website think, no really Who cares?? Frankly if these guys were not telling anyone anything and SA was not involved, very few people would know this even happened. I get the advertising thing and the boat probably is not a round the world family go fast cat, but will you ever get on one, off shore, for enough time to give a shit?? Give em a break and stop thinking that the world is going to end if we don't get to the bottom of a free story from a free internet site that is basically just a bunch of guys giving each other shit for entertainment.....

Why?

Hull insurance effectively excludes error in design or manufacture. Rainmaker is Hull(s) No 1 in the GB55 series and the most likely candidate to show up any problems. An error in design could mean the hull insurance won't cover the loss or leave the designers open to liability. If it wasn't built to specifications or wrong spec materials were used in construction, it happens (Was it Spirit of Hungary that was built with incorrect spec materials?) then that opens up liability of the builder or supplier. At this level they would/should all hold appropriate insurance cover. There is a lot of money & risk at stake @ over 2 Mill a pop, has a flow on effect for other GB55's (are there others?). Insurers are a conservative bunch, could be a flow on effect on the whole performance multihull insurance market. This one has the potential to be a real shit fight.

I'm certainly not saying this is the case, all I know is what everyone has read in parts 1 & 2. I've had someone leave a fuel tank breather open which lead to spilling diesel over the floor & bilge in shitty weather, throwing glass into that would have turned it into a slippery meat processor down below, couldn't imagine how bad that would have been on deck. Then add the rig & engine issues and family on board..fuck that

Well done to the skipper for keeping everyone safe

 

[Jaybird]

My point is, carry a spare antenna so you can go find your boat after you abandon it. Who da thunk.

Surely it had an ais transponder? Did it lose the antenna when the rig came down? They probably didn't have a spare antenna? Never thought about having a spare antenna aboard, guess I will now.

IIRC
Yes they had AIS

Yes antenna was on the mast

& your point?

Part three may answer your transponder question.

 

[Trickypig]

I am a newbie to this forum and am prepared for the blasting I am sure is coming

Been sailing for over 50 years. Caught in a hurricane off Jax trying to get to Charleston in a crappy old Morgan. Back then no epirb, GPS or Satphone. Waited for storm to go into Gulf headed for NOLA. Instead the mutha tracked back across FL and chased us up the coast. 75kts and 35' seas breaking at the spreaders. Tore up storm sails and bare poled it to Charleston with makeshift trysail.

My points are:

Forecast was accurate - Why leave? NTSB stats on plane crashes are full of "continued flight into adverse weather"

Sailing in "Forecasted" front passage with 40kts of wind on Autopilot? No one was driving the boat that could have reacted to the squall and reduce loading!

When was the last time you saw a yacht racing crew offshore in 40kts on autopilot? Watch not wearing foul weather gear!

IMHO we have become so reliant on technology that complacency has displaced seamanship. I don't think there is an issue with the boat. They are built better than 99% of the sailboats that have circumnavigated the world. The issue is the most common and simple one; "Pilot Error" or as my dad always said:

"you cant fix stupid"

I agree about over reliance on technology but in this case attributing this emergency to the use of an autopilot is a stretch.
110 apparent is a pretty deep angle for a performance multi. The true wind would have been well aft. In those conditions I'm certain the on watch would have been awake and focussed. The standby button is beside the helm in any event.

There is no mention in the interview of where the skipper thinks the failure in the rig was...

they were going pretty slow by then, 110 AWA not too far off from TWA in 40 knots of breeze.

He said around 10knots of boat speed so that'd be over 120 apparent. That's far enough aft.

In a velocity header that 110AWA could become 70AWA in a heart beat and the Autopilots reaction would be to steer down hard. That loads the rudders, the leeward bow and if you were running into the back of a swell the momentary loads could get ridiculous quickly as the boat cannot accelerate as designed. I could see a rig failure given this scenario.

Well the only velocity header you can ever get is a drop in wind speed.

Your point is still valid for a wind shift forward though. i.e. a squall line that hits from forward of the current wind direction might fit your description.

I realise that the loads can be much much higher in a multi but I find it hard to accept that a rig can go over the side before a hull lifts. My armchair notion is that there was a rig problem design or componentry.

 

[Jaybird]

I am a newbie to this forum and am prepared for the blasting I am sure is coming

Been sailing for over 50 years. Caught in a hurricane off Jax trying to get to Charleston in a crappy old Morgan. Back then no epirb, GPS or Satphone. Waited for storm to go into Gulf headed for NOLA. Instead the mutha tracked back across FL and chased us up the coast. 75kts and 35' seas breaking at the spreaders. Tore up storm sails and bare poled it to Charleston with makeshift trysail.

My points are:

Forecast was accurate - Why leave? NTSB stats on plane crashes are full of "continued flight into adverse weather"

Sailing in "Forecasted" front passage with 40kts of wind on Autopilot? No one was driving the boat that could have reacted to the squall and reduce loading!

When was the last time you saw a yacht racing crew offshore in 40kts on autopilot? Watch not wearing foul weather gear!

IMHO we have become so reliant on technology that complacency has displaced seamanship. I don't think there is an issue with the boat. They are built better than 99% of the sailboats that have circumnavigated the world. The issue is the most common and simple one; "Pilot Error" or as my dad always said:

"you cant fix stupid"

We sailed 5000 miles on a GB 66 most of it letting otto drive and it did a better job than the humans. I have no problem that they were using it. Most of the other Gunboat skippers on this thread have stated that they would leave on this weather routing, I will take their assessment over yours, Coming from somebody that sailed a pos Morgan offshore in a hurricane, stupid is as stupid does.

Yet the POS Morgan survived - an actual hurricane, no less. Go figure.

Maybe so, was it hit by a water spout.

 

[surfsailor]

We sailed 5000 miles on a GB 66 most of it letting otto drive and it did a better job than the humans. I have no problem that they were using it. Most of the other Gunboat skippers on this thread have stated that they would leave on this weather routing, I will take their assessment over yours, Coming from somebody that sailed a pos Morgan offshore in a hurricane, stupid is as stupid does.

Yet the POS Morgan survived - an actual hurricane, no less. Go figure.

Maybe so, was it hit by a water spout.

They were hit by a waterspout AFTER being dismasted by an insane plus hurricane force 'microburst' and then trying to bail onto a freighter? Oooh...this is getting exciting!

 

[us7070]

That video is nothing short of disturbing. My bullshit detector is pegged at 70 kts. A microburst of bullshit.

I'm sure he believes what he's saying.

2-3 days now from Newport to Edgartown on a monohull. Did they move it ?

If that's the sales pitch Cohen got, he probably is suing.

I've always loved the gunboats but I agree with you on PJ's presentation.

Muddlespeak of "25 projects and 70 owners" … so how many boats does that actually equate to?

2,000,000 nm sailed. If it's 25 boats GBs that's 80,000nm average per boat…. really?

perfomance cruising catamaran a `completely new' idea in 2000? Don't tell the French or any number of custom builders around the world..

"Indoors" "moonroof" etc etc… That's condo speak.

Gunboat is a success story in anyone's language but that speech was getting close to a televangilist effort. Maybe that's the key!

what gunboat brought to the performance cruising catamaran niche was a level of comfort and "luxury" that was not typically available on performance cruising cats...

there were luxurious cats.., and there were carbon performance cats.., but not really anyone attempting to build production boats that combined those characteristics

but sure - everything in life is a development of something that came before...

as far as the style of his talk - it's typical of people who start certain kinds of new businesses

it takes someone with a certain kind of vision and a sense of evangelism - you may not like it.., or feel it's exaggerated, but sometimes that's what it takes to get a business going

anyway..,when you guys create something similar to gunboat.., you can post your videos for us to critique

 

[Trickypig]

That video is nothing short of disturbing. My bullshit detector is pegged at 70 kts. A microburst of bullshit.

I'm sure he believes what he's saying.

2-3 days now from Newport to Edgartown on a monohull. Did they move it ?

If that's the sales pitch Cohen got, he probably is suing.

I've always loved the gunboats but I agree with you on PJ's presentation.

Muddlespeak of "25 projects and 70 owners" … so how many boats does that actually equate to?

2,000,000 nm sailed. If it's 25 boats GBs that's 80,000nm average per boat…. really?

perfomance cruising catamaran a `completely new' idea in 2000? Don't tell the French or any number of custom builders around the world..

"Indoors" "moonroof" etc etc… That's condo speak.

Gunboat is a success story in anyone's language but that speech was getting close to a televangilist effort. Maybe that's the key!

what gunboat brought to the performance cruising catamaran niche was a level of comfort and "luxury" that was not typically available on performance cruising cats...

there were luxurious cats.., and there were carbon performance cats.., but not really anyone attempting to build production boats that combined those characteristics

but sure - everything in life is a development of something that came before...

as far as the style of his talk - it's typical of people who start certain kinds of new businesses

it takes someone with a certain kind of vision and a sense of evangelism - you may not like it.., or feel it's exaggerated, but sometimes that's what it takes to get a business going

anyway..,when you guys create something similar to gunboat.., you can post your videos for us to critique

This is Sailing Anarchy I don't need to build no stinking boats to have my say. ^_^

…and 2,000,000 nm ??

 

[RKoch]

That video is nothing short of disturbing. My bullshit detector is pegged at 70 kts. A microburst of bullshit.

I'm sure he believes what he's saying.

2-3 days now from Newport to Edgartown on a monohull. Did they move it ?

If that's the sales pitch Cohen got, he probably is suing.

I've always loved the gunboats but I agree with you on PJ's presentation.

Muddlespeak of "25 projects and 70 owners" so how many boats does that actually equate to?

2,000,000 nm sailed. If it's 25 boats GBs that's 80,000nm average per boat. really?

perfomance cruising catamaran a `completely new' idea in 2000? Don't tell the French or any number of custom builders around the world..

"Indoors" "moonroof" etc etc That's condo speak.

Gunboat is a success story in anyone's language but that speech was getting close to a televangilist effort. Maybe that's the key!

Televangelist was also my thought when watching that video.

 

[Edith Bicknell]

That video is nothing short of disturbing. My bullshit detector is pegged at 70 kts. A microburst of bullshit.

I'm sure he believes what he's saying.

2-3 days now from Newport to Edgartown on a monohull. Did they move it ?

If that's the sales pitch Cohen got, he probably is suing.

I've always loved the gunboats but I agree with you on PJ's presentation.

Muddlespeak of "25 projects and 70 owners" so how many boats does that actually equate to?

2,000,000 nm sailed. If it's 25 boats GBs that's 80,000nm average per boat. really?

perfomance cruising catamaran a `completely new' idea in 2000? Don't tell the French or any number of custom builders around the world..

"Indoors" "moonroof" etc etc That's condo speak.

Gunboat is a success story in anyone's language but that speech was getting close to a televangilist effort. Maybe that's the key!

what gunboat brought to the performance cruising catamaran niche was a level of comfort and "luxury" that was not typically available on performance cruising cats...

there were luxurious cats.., and there were carbon performance cats.., but not really anyone attempting to build production boats that combined those characteristics

but sure - everything in life is a development of something that came before...

as far as the style of his talk - it's typical of people who start certain kinds of new businesses

it takes someone with a certain kind of vision and a sense of evangelism - you may not like it.., or feel it's exaggerated, but sometimes that's what it takes to get a business going

anyway..,when you guys create something similar to gunboat.., you can post your videos for us to critique

I give him great credit for pushing technology envelopes and filling a niche. But the claims being made in that video are downright bullshit. No need for crew, high latitude circum navigator, etc Its built to a purpose. Speed and comfort with a moonroof. Selling it as a Winter North Atlantic or Bass Strait commuter with your wife and kids is a joke. I think even you know that. It's a fast condo.

All of this has nothing to do with the rig failure. That could happen on any boat with one shitty fitting and lead to a series of events leading to

abandonment. The point is the marketing of this boat dosnt fit it's true offshore capabilities or design and telling buyers otherwise is bullshit.

Don't like the aft bulkhead and semi rigid enclosure? Don't worry a big greenie will take it down for you.

PJ is a nice guy. Just a bit delusional. And everyone should watch the full 30 min video before commenting.

And you are calling these production boats? Like Catalina's?

And the 'style' of his talk was never mentioned. Grown men crying in presentations is perfectly acceptable. We were discussing the content.

 

[blunderfull]

Wonder how much video footage of that adventure will surface someday? The kid probably had a GoPro running most of the time.

 

[MauiPunter]

There is no mention in the interview of where the skipper thinks the failure in the rig was...

No one has any idea where the rig failure was. Zero.

That seems like a huge problem going forward.

 

[RKoch]

That video is nothing short of disturbing. My bullshit detector is pegged at 70 kts. A microburst of bullshit.

I'm sure he believes what he's saying.

2-3 days now from Newport to Edgartown on a monohull. Did they move it ?

If that's the sales pitch Cohen got, he probably is suing.

I've always loved the gunboats but I agree with you on PJ's presentation.

Muddlespeak of "25 projects and 70 owners" so how many boats does that actually equate to?

2,000,000 nm sailed. If it's 25 boats GBs that's 80,000nm average per boat. really?

perfomance cruising catamaran a `completely new' idea in 2000? Don't tell the French or any number of custom builders around the world..

"Indoors" "moonroof" etc etc That's condo speak.

Gunboat is a success story in anyone's language but that speech was getting close to a televangilist effort. Maybe that's the key!

what gunboat brought to the performance cruising catamaran niche was a level of comfort and "luxury" that was not typically available on performance cruising cats...

there were luxurious cats.., and there were carbon performance cats.., but not really anyone attempting to build production boats that combined those characteristics

but sure - everything in life is a development of something that came before...

as far as the style of his talk - it's typical of people who start certain kinds of new businesses

it takes someone with a certain kind of vision and a sense of evangelism - you may not like it.., or feel it's exaggerated, but sometimes that's what it takes to get a business going

anyway..,when you guys create something similar to gunboat.., you can post your videos for us to critique

I give him great credit for pushing technology envelopes and filling a niche. But the claims being made in that video are downright bullshit. No need for crew, high latitude circum navigator, etc Its built to a purpose. Speed and comfort with a moonroof. Selling it as a Winter North Atlantic or Bass Strait commuter with your wife and kids is a joke. I think even you know that. It's a fast condo.

All of this has nothing to do with the rig failure. That could happen on any boat with one shitty fitting and lead to a series of events leading to

abandonment. The point is the marketing of this boat dosnt fit it's true offshore capabilities of design and telling buyers otherwise is bullshit.

Don't like the aft bulkhead and semi rigid enclosure? Don't worry a big greenie will take it down for you.

PJ is a nice guy. Just a bit delusional. And everyone should watch the full 30 min video before commenting.

Yep. Nobody went broke telling rich people what they want to hear. You can have your cake and eat it too. Speed, luxury, family cruiser, no spilling the Grey Poupon...all yours for a mere $2.5M. Shit, they are nice boats...just not as suitable for extreme weather as is claimed. What are the odds a picture window breaks, the enclosure gets torn off, and saltwater gets into all that disruptive technology and knocks it out? Pretty high, evidently.

 

[Pertinacious Tom]

What is left out in the Gunboat Tribe infomercial so far is the reference by several here that delivery SOP on Gunboats is to take the sails down during unsettled weather. What is also unusual is virtually all these +/- 60 footers run with specialized crew? Yes, Gunboat makes interesting boats or maybe toys. What is the Gunboat really suitable for? There is the old spirit of SA discussion. Is Gunboat a "family" boat or a $$$$$$$$ Toy that the family may get to ride on when the conditions are right? Or is the current build unsafe at any speed?

What are you talking about? Who are you to talk about SOP? I've been bare poles 3 times in 12 yrs of sailing GBs. Once when there were about 10 water spouts on the horizon, once when wind went from 15 to 60, and once in a strong Meltemi when the wind was up to 70 in the lee of the islands and 10 knots to windward and it wasn't worth switching gears.

Btw-it can be a family boat and a $$$ toy.

True. And furthermore, any boat that fails to earn more than it costs is a $$$ toy and anyone who owns any boat that is not earning money is a rich person with a toy. Yes, I mean a guy who lives in a dumpy trailer and owns a tin skiff is rich. He has a boat! Totally frivolous expense.

All my boats are frivolous.

 

[Bryanjb]

Gotta say it's been an entertaining thread.....