www.gov.uk/maib-reports/keel-detatchment-and-capsize-of-sailing-yacht-cheeki-rafiki-with-loss-of-4-lives

Regards Don

Interesting read

It is difficult to say what I would do in that situation although I have thought about it a few times when in my bunk at night in heavy weather.

I reckon if you find a hull in the middle of the oggin with the keel missing there is a very fair bet the keel came off and the boat capsized.

The communications between the owners and the boat crew are interesting. They had a fair bit of time to prepare to leave the boat but even so if the boat was flooding my instinct would be along the old sayings the best liferaft is your boat and when leaving step up into the liferaft.

If while trying to find the leak and reducing the ingress the keel came off suddenly the capsize would be almost instantaneous and getting out/off and into a raft a remote possibility unless you were on deck with the raft in the water.

On the S&S34 the keel bolts are clearly visible in the bilge as are the rudder post and all sea cocks. I cannot speculate why they didn't identify the water coming in from the bilge, if it was which is most probable.

We will never know what really happened but it does make us offshore sailors think about what we might do if it happened to us.

Isn't that what happened to that solo English sailor off the Australian coast a few years back ??
his yacht was found upside down fully rigged with the keel missing. The rescuers tapped on the
hull and he popped up. He had been sitting in air trapped in the hull. It seems if you don't panic
you stand a chance.

There is a fair bit of difference between the two

I have never heard of an S&S 34, a Northshore 33, a Lotus 9.2, an H 28, a Clansman 30, a Top Hat 25 or Hood 23 dropping their keel despite their age, so I think most of us here on the forum are fairly safe.

Donk107 said..

samsturdy said..


Isn't that what happened to that solo English sailor off the Australian coast a few years back ??
his yacht was found upside down fully rigged with the keel missing. The rescuers tapped on the
hull and he popped up. He had been sitting in air trapped in the hull. It seems if you don't panic
you stand a chance.

I think that it had a watertight compartment that kept it afloat high in the water whereas this one did not







Regards Don

Did you know Donk the Australian navy went full throttle to assist that boat, in doing so they used up the Navies yearly fuel ration for that year .

MorningBird said..
Not quite the case the navy used all it's fuel sending HMAS ADELAIDE to Bullimore's rescue but it is true they went flat out and used a hell of a lot. I was still in the outfit at the time running aircrew training and aircraft combat systems so know the guys who did it. They had to send a tanker down to meet ADELAIDE to get her home. One FFG couldn't use too much even at full power. Navy fuel budget was in the order of 100 cz's or 100,000 tonnes a year.
Raydon Gates was ADELAIDE's skipper and he did a great job getting Bullimore and then DARWIN did nearly as good a job rescuing Isabelle Autissier in the same race. Raydon went on to be the Fleet Commander as a Rear Admiral.
Both Navy rescues pale as feats compared to Pete Goss rescue of Dinelli closer to Cape Horn again in the same event. Goss's story of this race is great reading.

So was my nephew in the navy and still is he told me the Navy had to slow down that year
I'm not saying the navy didnt do a get job they did an excelent job but the Government could have added a bit more to there fuel budget that year

Dont forget that during the rescue of Bullimore, the Adelaide sent a chopper to get Thierry Dubois on the way down.
Didn't those joint rescues elevate the Aus. Navy to the best search and rescue outfit in the world?
There was certainly kudos from around the world on the success of both rescues.