Yacht dismasted- What to do differently?
by Sail-World Cruising on 28 Sep 2010
RNLI shot of the incident SW
'The best mistakes to learn by are other people's.'
They were exiting the river, almost to the sea, being guided by navigation markers. They had just put up their genoa.
Suddenly there was a torrential downpour, reducing visibility to almost nothing. Moments later, they hit a Marker Post, snagged the rigging, the boat slewed, and the mast came down.
The question that might occupy the minds of all active sailors is: What could they (should I in the future) have done differently?
It's a true story, and happened this week in the Lymington River in the UK when the yacht was on the way to Cowes.
The Royal National Lifesaving Institution (RNLI) reports that the Gosport couple were sailing down the Lymington River when they lost their way in the sudden downpour, colliding with the thick wooden marker.
After the dismasting, the yacht was still trapped with its rigging snarled around the marker. Lymington Lifeboat went out to the assistance of the 32ft yacht and harbour operations manager Colin Freeman scrambled up the marker to release the boat.
A lifeboat spokesman said the two people aboard the yacht were shocked but unhurt. The boat was towed back to Lymington.
The substantial navigation mark was undamaged, but the couple will no doubt also be asking 'What could we have done differently?'
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Letter from reader:
Message from Joel Trasker
Doesn't need to occupy you too long Sail-World - never put up a genoa in a navigation channel, and as soon as it starts raining, put someone ON THE BOW. No doubt they were huddling under the dodger and in the cabin. Dhur! They should be huddling around their open fire at home instead of wasting the time of the coastguard.
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