Regards Don

Ouch.

www.scpr.org/news/2017/03/31/70360/high-winds-sweep-southern-california-toppling-tree/

ktla.com/2017/03/30/4-people-rescued-after-sailboat-capsizes-in-redondo-beach/

Umm I guess they were stressing so much they couldn't think straight?

no motor? they didnt seem to be moving to quickly aboard considering the looming pier.

Wow.

Looks like they had no motor and an issue with the jib sheet. It's only as the boat is hit by the wave that the guy on the side deck/cabin starts to pull the sail into shape.

My guess is that they were trying to get back into the marina that is just to the north (from memory) and got caught, crappy swell there at times.

either way, an ooops moment

I like the TV report Link says: "yacht nearly capsizes" it looked like a pretty complete capsize to me!

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Agent nods said..
I like the TV report Link says: "yacht nearly capsizes" it looked like a pretty complete capsize to me!

Think that pylon might have just prevented the completion of the manoeuvre!

If these guys were coming in to a trailer I would have gone the other side of the pier for a start. very strange indeed.
Or was it first time sailing?

Would have been fine if the boat was motoring Id say

www.google.com.au/maps/place/Redondo+Beach+Pier/@33.8397369,-118.3911252,960m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xe8170704fa215ae0!8m2!3d33.8398787!4d-118.3910929

That makes my most bone rattling wharf approach look tame ! It's not the 1st of April is it ?

from a Youtube comment:

Hi I know the owner of boat and he is a very experienced sailor. He his out there every week racing or not and knows the ocean there better than many I've seen. The winds were out of the north barreling down the marina channel so fierce, he didn't have a chance. The finish line of that race is at the entrance to the marina and judgement for the racers and boat involved were not used with discernment on Thursday. Safety in this conditions is to finish the race inside the marina to give the boats plenty of leeway to round the enterance. That was not the case Thursday. The winds picked up like that during the race and it was an unfortunate accident. It wasn't because he 'didn't know what he was doing' he is a competent experienced skipper that did his best to keep his crew safe. It wasn't his fault. Truly an unfortunate accident. I'm just glad every one is ok. Cheers Len and Patricia, sending love.

not sure why they dropped their main so early when they needed to head upwind to get to the marina. it looks like they have a problem with the jib sheet, and decide to turn back into the wind so that someone can grab a hold up near the clew, but in that wind sheeting the jib by hand is not really feasible.

in hindsight they should have bent another sheet onto the jib ASAP and headed off downwind to give themselves some room to sort themselves out before attempting to enter the breakwater. IMO a really good sailor is prepared for breakages and has some ideas about how to deal with them quickly. i don't think they were the actions of a "very experienced sailor".

apparently according to their class rules they were also supposed to have an outboard, but for some reason didn't on that day.

damn lucky that there were only minor injuries.

there is a longer video which has a shot from the inside of the pier:

.be

No excuse being anywhere near that pier on a lee shore. If the race ended near the pier in a dangerous situation they shouldn't have completed the race.
I have my doubts on the eye witness account. An experienced (competent) sailor would have avoided being in a situation where he placed the boat in danger in the event of a gear failure.
Very lucky if nobody got injured/killed.

I think the race would have been over before he entered the harbour Id say no motor and bad skippers decision. we all learn by our mistakes

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HG02 said..
I think the race would have been over before he entered the harbour Id say no motor and bad skippers decision. we all learn by our mistakes

Very true HG. Experience = number of mistakes made and learnt from.
One of the first such lessons is don't go near lee shores.
I am constantly dismayed at the yachts rounding Pittwater or Sydney headlands a boat length or two off the rocks on a lee shore in a stiff breeze.
No excuses for it in my view.

Heaps of hands and heaps of time to sort at out.

What an earth were the crew doing sitting on the leeward side of the boat for? Try a make the boat more unstable? Tryna get run over by the boat and tangled in rigging when she went over. I dunno , but I can't help but think that this could have been avoided. Crew should have at least been up on the rail. They're all over the bloody place.

The entrance to Redondo marina is un-fortunately usually on the lee shore (prevailing wind from the W to SW and swell, same same) and the marina entrance is not that far from the pier, just to the north.

Mistakes happen and with an area that has an odd swell at times who knows what was really happening or had happened onboard, other than the video, lucky they escaped with their lives, yes, but easy to sit back and say this and that.

Maybe we are spoilt here with marina entrances, an accident, regardless of cause, returning to the marina.

Decision to race or not to race, Fundamental Rule 4

Another one from SA, seems a bit low in the water after they get it off.