This Keel Failure Killed 4 Men!

Comments · 1.4K

• AL

  @alandb2481 · 2 years ago

  I’m a commercial yacht skipper and instructor.<br>In the training, it’s quite clear, if you’re taking on a lot of water and you’re offshore, you activate all the distress electronics and issue a Mayday.<br>Sending an email to the owner was not the correct course of action by the skipper.

  1.1K

• PS

  @PS-n5f · 8 months ago (edited)

  I&apos;m a structural engineer, and I&apos;ve long been concerned about how fin keels are attached to the hull structure. Most often there are simply studs sticking out of the top of the keel. Nuts and washers hold those studs to the bottom of the stub keel that&apos;s molded into the bottom of the hull. Even in boats with no stub, this is basically how it&apos;s done, perhaps with the addition of some (usually inadequate) floors to (inadequately) direct those loads to the chainplates. Remember: The overturning forces from the sail are resisted by the righting forces from the keel. There must be a continuous, secure load path from the keel to the chainplates to the shrouds, spreaders, and mast. If there is a failure of that loadpath in the vicinity of the chainplates and above, you lose the mast. If there is a failure of the loadpath in the vicinity of the keel, you lose the boat.<br>I have no idea what actually caused the loss of Cheeki Rafiki, but there is really no excuse for losing a keel. Yet this continues to happen<br>There are a lot of critical parts on a sailboat. Almost nothing can cause a loss of the vessel faster than losing the keel. It simply doesn&apos;t add that much cost to design and build the system to keep the stresses so low that the loss of a keel on a production boat becomes essentially impossible. But, as I say, keel loss is a continuing problem. I don&apos;t know what the answer is.

  7

• AL

  @alanscholl1747 · 2 years ago

  Very sad indeed, we raced against them in Antigua Sailing Week just days before they left on CAIPIRINHA another Benetteau 40.7, they beat us by 1 point and won the class. We had a few beers with them on the Friday that the regatta ended. May their souls continue to rest in peace.

  448

• KW

  @kw5732 · 2 years ago

  I was on a boat preparing for a coastal passage off Australia. The skipper and crew were working out how to lash the life raft to the deck after it had been serviced. It needs to be done a certain way for the hydrostatic releaset to operate. One of them said &quot;Just use some sail ties, we&apos;re not gonna need it&quot;<br><br>Needless to say it was the last time I ever sailed on that boat again.

  313

• PH

  @philhardwick100 · 1 year ago

  Delivered one of these from Charleston SC to the Bahamas with the owner on board. The boat felt very sound even in the rowdy NE swell and thunderstorms we encountered being partially in the Gulf Stream. Halfway through the trip, we also encountered “mystery water” that confused the owner in that he said the boat had always been dry. The problem compounded in that the bilge pump quit working. It was a Jabsco diaphragm type that I was very familiar with, so I dissembled it by “feel” since it was inaccessible except through a small hole in the quarter berth. Finding nothing wrong, I removed the floating floor boards and reaching with my long arms down the length of the pickup hose. I found an inline strainer completely clogged with construction debris. This was a ridiculous set up for a vital piece of equipment. It totally shook my confidence in the quality of the vessel AND I still had no clue to the reason for the Ingres of salt water. I would have been much more concerned had I known about the fatal flaw with this brand. Except for the weather and the fact that the owner had no chart (before GPS) to the island we were approaching, the rest of the trip was uneventful. Several lessons learned. Glad I own a good old boat with a thick hull and enclosed keel, a Pearson Countess 44 that I have loved since the first time I saw one as a teenager in the late sixties.

  151

• ZE

  @ZeroToHeroSailing · 2 days ago

  I have zero sailing experience which is why I am buying a Mauritius 43 GRP Ketch with an encapsulated Keel, bullet proof blue water cruiser.

• MI

  @Michael-uc7gr · 1 year ago

  I&apos;ve done a fair amount of ocean racing and crossings, but I&apos;ve never heard of practicing running aground, and I don&apos;t know another skipper who has ever run aground. &nbsp;This is crazier than practicing driving your car into a wall. &nbsp;Once the crew knew the keel/hull connection was the problem, they should have put the life raft in the water and activated the EPIRB,

  109

• MA

  @markdiephouse · 1 year ago

  I sailed a Bentau 36 from Puerto Rico to Key West. I was worried about the keel the entire trip. I&apos;ll never sail a bolt on again.

  39

• GR

  @GreenFlash676 · 2 years ago

  This is a pretty accurate recitation, but as a former owner of a Beneteau 40.7 (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/676">#676</a>) there are a few details in this recitation that are not accurate. &nbsp;The boat &nbsp;weighs about 15,000 lbs. Not 15 tons. &nbsp;The keel was not bolted to the hull, but through the hull to the fiberglass frame. There are heavy duty steel backing plates inside the frame. &nbsp; The point of that construction is to spread the load through the frame to the whole hull. Part of the frame was the sump that actually sticks down into the keel. The picture of Cheeki Rafiki at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kunohxmvuM&amp;t=100">1:40</a> of the video is a beneteau 40.7. &nbsp; The &nbsp;picture at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kunohxmvuM&amp;t=1011">16:51</a> that also has &nbsp;&quot;Rafiki&quot; sailing with four men on board is not. &nbsp;It has an open transom and two steering wheels and one long window instead of four on the cabin, so it&apos;s a nice picture but not a picture of the boat in question. People need to be concerned about a lot more than the bolts. &nbsp;Any cracking or tearing in the frame or at any of the joints between the frame and the hull, or especially in the sump could give evidence of damage which could then weaken, allow movement of the keel and then weaken the joint then allow breakage of the bolts. I think if the keel was moving it is likely the pre catastrophic leaking was coming from cracking around the sump. &nbsp; Everyone with a boat with a deep keel and short fore and aft connection to the boat should check for all of those kind of things every year, but especially after any groundings.

  289

• SU

  @subocajw · 2 years ago

  What a tragedy, especially for the loved ones that have to live with all those questions.<br>I read comments about the life raft, why it was still strapped on. You can’t release the straps while sailing. It will fly all over the place and be a danger by itself. It’s quite heavy. Preparing for worst case would probably be checking if it can be released easily and if all the crew knows the procedure. You release it when you’re sinking, abandon ship. When you lose the keel the boat will flip upside down instantly, making it probably impossible to deploy.<br>A conclusion that the keel bolds have failed seems a bit too fast to me. I have some knowledge of these types of boats and I think the laminate of the hull was probably damaged by the groundings. In these type off boats the keel is only hanging on the hull laminate. When the keel starts flexing on that damaged laminate, water can go into the bilge. You don’t really see the water flowing in. <br>In my case it was there every time we did some heavy sailing. I guess we were lucky. Didn’t trust the keel situation and had her hauled out. Visual inspection didn’t really show any damage. Still didn’t trust it and dropped the keel. The hull laminate was compromised around the bold holes and we had to have it repaired by a professional shipyard. They also changed the whole internal construction so it isn’t hanging only from the hull laminate. The keel bolds were in perfect condition, renewed them anyway.

  152

• TH

  @thelittoralzone8716 · 1 year ago

  We were moored next to these guys in Antigua before they set sail on their fateful voyage. <br>Such a tragedy.

  13

• AL

  @albin2232 · 1 month ago

  The sea isn&apos;t anyone&apos;s friend. <br>It is the classic Dangerous Environment.