Cheeki Rafiki

[Jim Brady]

As you are most probably aware this yacht went down in the North Atlantic 5 days ago with four crew members on board.The US Coastguard called off the search but now after great pressure from this side of the Atlantic the search is back on,lets hope that these four men are found alive in a liferaft.My question is this,a ship spotted the upturned yacht,I dont think they did anything to investigate it,in our time would the ship have been obliged to heave to and take the yacht aboard.I suppose present day they dont have any means of recovering something from the ocean.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Captain Kong]

I dont think those container ships have any lifting gear, not like rigging a derrick and some slings,
It would have been very handy having the yacht on board, there could have been some clues as why she capsised or even run down by another ship. Men could have been trapped inside when she went over just like Bullimore.
But when I saw a film of her racing, there were ten men sat on the weather side to try and keep her from going over, with a crew of only four there was no chance of that.
They are OK for sailing round the Isle of Wight but not the Atlantic.

There was a gale on at the time and reports say 18 metre swell or waves. too much for a small boat only 40 feet in length.
Quite honestly I would never dream of crossing the Western in a yacht. sometimes it was bad enough on a Cunard or Empress boat.
The best way for them would have been put the boat on a container ship and sail back that way, easier, quicker, and safer.
.
The Sea is Not a playground.

Cheers
Brian

[John Arton]

Jim
True doubt they could have recovered such a large yacht but I would have thought they could at least investigated a bit more even to the extent of stopping, lowering their rescue boat, they will have one, and checking that no one was trapped in the hull. The weather at the time did not seem to bad so as seamen they should have investigated further, even if it meant putting their schedule out.
I recall that as a cadet, homeward bound on a Forest Product ship, we spotted what appeared to be an empty ships lifeboat and the captain at first was not going to investigate it as he reckoned we would miss the tide at Tilbury if we stopped. This on a 14knot ship in mid Atlantic, as if an hour or so was going to make a difference!!!. On investigating it we found out that it was actually the first guy ever to row single handed across the Atlantic. We stopped and asked if he wanted to come on board for a while but he refused as that would have broken the rules for rowing single handed across the Atlantic. He had not been heard of for some time so we were able to radio his HQ that he was alive and well. After passing him some provisions and water along with a couple of bottles of Scotch we proceeded on our way, duly missing the tide at Tilbury which for some reason made the captain mad as a hatter.
Some years later the rower was the subject of "This is Your Life" and mid way through the program the he was asked "Do you recall that after X number of days at sea, you had not been heard of, when a cargo ship stopped and gave you food and water"
to which the rower replied, "No"
at bit embarrassed the host went onto say
"Well we have got the Captain of that ship here now"
and with that onto the stage strode the Captain, replete in uniform and pipe in mouth as he always was a bit of a poser.
On seeing the Captain the rower blurted out,
"I remember now, I was sick for days after on the provisions that they gave me!!!!"
Apparently the Chief Steward had off loaded a load of out of date tins of food onto him.
rgds
JA

[cappy]

the same sense of adventure that took most of us to sea is the same love of the sea and adventure that makes yachtsmen go to sea .....and accept the challenge that the sea offers in large ships or small boats ....it is what makes men climb the highest mountains and dive the deepest seas ....it will nevr change........something makes us when we are young to seek the all that life can threw at us ....sometimes the penalty is the ultimate .......but to accept the challenge and win ....either at sea or anywere else is the greatest satisfactoin a person can ever have ....it will never end ......i shall now go and mow my lawn .....enough excitement for today

[Ivan Cloherty]

I agree with Kong, the sea is not a playground, reminds me of the two idiots who went sailing into pirate waters against all advice and became Press heroes, as will these four, if found alive. I wonder how many would sign a petition if a merchant vessel disappears (as they do every week) and would the Prime Minister intervene on their behalf.

Answers on a postcard please

[robpage]

From a purely practical point of view , the RNLI and the Royal Navy are often launching boats and helicoptors around our costs to rescue seafarers , all free of charge . To the four men involved I assume that to cross the atlantic they have some degree of professional skill , a Yachtmaster's certificate or whatever the equivalent is . I honestly believe that many of the problems around our coasts are caused by inexperienced yachtsmen and boat owners , who are so clever that they need no professional instruction at all , I would make some kind of licence and insurance a necessity before they set out . The worst here , in my belief are the inshore amateur fishermen , who set off , often with their kids , no life jakets , no communications , no charts , and no idea

[John Arton]

It never ceases to amaze me the ignorance of the typical land lubber has towards the power of the seas and even our rivers.
I have watched whilst Coastguard rescue teams have struggled to rescue people washed of piers in conditions that even a blind man could tell you should not be on it.
Just recently we had the tragic case of 3 men drowned whilst out kayaking on the Tyne. They had only recently taken up the sport, taken no instruction from experienced kayakers and gone onto the river when it was in full spate after recent heavy rain.
Tragic though it is, again it shows up just how ignorant of the power of water or the sea is to the average man in the street.
rgds
JA

[j.sabourn]

#3... It wasnt the whiskey then? JS

[john sutton]

having seen photos of the yacht and read why she was in the west indies I would think that she would be designed for racing and I don't think that I would be happy making a west/east crossing on her. It would appear that the crew were experienced and had no reason to pile on sail in adverse conditions .
If she was rigged for the trip she should have been equipped with EPIRB,s and if the skipper was experienced and a regular at crossings I would have thought he would be wearing a Brietling watch that has a emergency beacon built in.They are expensive but a super safety item.
I have done a couple of deep sea trips down to the med from UKand would never take chances.
Sometimes sailing yachtmen don't treat the sea with the respect it deserves and that's when it bites them in the arze

[cappy]

the yacht had radiod it was taking water but was coping initially but asked for help .....the ist thing in my estimation to be done would be to make the life raft fast astern.......thus any need to abandon would have been close to hand ....i would guess if she capsized the raft would still have been fast to the upturned hull ,,,,,,,so why are the powers that be still saying to stop the search if the liferaft is not to be seen at all life rafts dont sink