"DSK" wrote in message
. ..
"Joe" wrote
.... Terry(my
wife) rode out Hurricane alicia on a 60 ft shrimpboat that had every
port and window smashed in with every wave putting at least a ft of
water in the wheelhose, waves in the 40 -60 ft range.


Sounds exciting. One thing I have noticed about most shrimpers, they do
believe in have good pumps aboard.


Maxprop wrote:
I'm not aware of the type and configuration of all the boats you mention.
But I'm betting none were lightly-built (underbuilt), overcanvased maxi
racers, or anything similar.

Interesting way to put it. But it also reveals a fallacy in thinking about
the issue of structural integrity of boats (or any vehicle).

In basic physics, when you're figuring out how much force is generated (or
absorbed in an impact), velocity is squared. In boats this means that
going 10 knots generates four times the force of going 5 knots. Another
side of the problem is that impact loads are spread over time... hitting
waves faster means higher peak loads on the structure.

So maxi racers are far from underbuilt. They are built very very strong,
if not they would crumble from the forces generated in driving them under
normal sailing conditions. Successful racing boats are generally built
much stronger than cruising boats... they are also subjected to
exponentially higher forces. This is why the structural failures on racing
boats tend to be more sudden & dramatic... like the difference between a
2400psi express header multi-fuel boiler and 60psi fire tube boiler with a
wood furnace built into one end.

How many cruising boats sailed through the '98 Hobart Race storm?

I won't dispute that maxis are built for heavy loads, but I'm betting they
normally aren't built for the sorts of conditions of the '98 Hobart.
Considering the force of the wind and the speed at which boats plunged off
those monstrous, steep waves, the forces applied to hull and rig were
exponentially greater than what might be normally encountered in typical
"bad" weather.

Max