twitter.com/9NewsSyd/status/1175332260528082945

Interesting another large cat capsize luckily all 6 rescued.

That is a big boat. It will be good to know what happened.
Maybe cars aren't that good offshore!

I just emailed Pil then, so will find out the story

Oh no, that's not XL2 is it?
That's a very experienced and well campaigned boat with a ton of sea miles, I'd bet my mother on this wasn't a rookie crew error.
What was the weather like off Sydney that day? It must of been pretty special to put that boat on her roof.
I hope everyone is OK, and a silent nod of thanks to the SAR teams once again.
No word yet Lydia?

That really sucks, they're the last guys I would think this would happen to.
Hopefully they can recover her in one piece, it looks like the rig is still in the boat at least.

Ouch, that's in my Home ground, hope everyone include the yacht recovers!

Having almost no experience on a cat I am at a loss as to how this could have happened.

The winds weren't that strong, at least not where I am in the inner west. The best I can find online was this "Winds north to northeasterly 15 to 25 km/h, increasing to 25 to 35 km/h in the afternoon."

Swell doesn't appear to have been too big.

Mechanical failure?

She's a pretty stable boat by modern racing cat standards, I think, and her owner was, I think, moving from a more high powered boat. He's pretty experienced. I only sailed her once, inshore, and sailed her sister a bit. Like MB, I'm baffled.

There is arguably a simple issue with offshore racing cats in that monos lose control but recover whereas cat can stay in control until they flip. They arguably need rescuing a LOT more but may kill fewer sailors once you allow for their far smaller numbers compared to monos.

Question ........... In a large cat . If broad reaching in 20 knt breeze fully powered up , on auto pilot , no one one the main sheet , skipper goes below to have crap , heavy sustained gust of 30 knts . what would happen , would she flip or round up ?

Won't round up. I understand cats pitch pole over rather than tip sideways.

Super fast boat and very light too. I found it tricky to sail being so light. Was asked to crew on her that morning but was too tired and had other commitments.
But the skipper is a very experienced and knowledgeable and someone that'd be first in line to help out anyone. Top bloke.
I'll leave it to Lydia to fill in the gaps but no one was more surprised than me to hear what went down.
Maybe I cleaned the hull too much and it went too quick

Saw some pics of XL2 and a sistership - Wahoo.

XL2 has had some serious work done on her and the rig has had some work - maybe taller mast or bigger sails. I remember her hull getting light in about 15-18 knots upwind so she has a pretty high power to weight ratio. You can see her windward hull getting light in what looks like a nice, but not terribly breezy day.

Compare her with the initial rig that the designer Lock Crowther, put on his sistership - Wahoo - to comply with the pretty rigorous IOMR rules in the 80s. A much smaller rig, safer but slower.



It's not multihull rocket science. If you put bigger rigs on boats, you have to be more careful. Cruisers have more weight and less rig, and sail slower.

Pil is all good
looking to recover boat today
will get full story as it comes out
pil is a pretty competitive guy but he has used you a few lives with this yachting caper

We were out there and heard the emergency call come through. It was hitting 30kts and the swell 2 to 3 meters. Im pretty sure we saw the cat as we headed down south. It was one of the boats in our race that made the emergency call. Its quite a shock when you hear something like that happening.

Little unnerving as the cat was left upside down overnight in the water. Not sure if they attached any lights or marker buoys to improve visibility.

So glad all ok.

Cav, were you guys doing the Flinders race?

Yes sir, not on the Cav 30 though! A bene 40.7

Took us something like 5 hours to get there and 17 to get back :-(

You?

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Cav30 said..
Yes sir, not on the Cav 30 though! A bene 40.7

Took us something like 5 hours to get there and 17 to get back :-(

You?

A First sounds like a nice choice for that race, flat deck racers might be fast but they are not comfortable after10-12 hours
The 5 hours getting there sounds like fun!
No, I'd like to take Fusion down for this one if I keep her, it looks like a great race.
How did you go?

Ill PM you.
Ed

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Cav30 said..
Little unnerving as the cat was left upside down overnight in the water. Not sure if they attached any lights or marker buoys to improve visibility.

It would appear they can't find it now. This is judging by post on NSW police and Marine rescue Facebook page to keep an eye out for it and send them location if found.

www.begadistrictnews.com.au/story/6422806/catamaran-worth-180k-found-off-tathra-after-capsizing-at-sydney/?cs=509&fbclid=IwAR1EV7vt3udCD55ajr6fO6-wDwrbL_vuZXZ28FHlbu3HcUoUsuVU8WEFnTM