Wayne.B wrote:
On Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:06:33 -0400, jeff wrote:

Perhaps true, but we do have evidence of drowning on a Mac that rolled
over. Does the fact the the boat didn't sink make you feel better?

Was it dismasted in the rollover? Why did the rollover occur ?

It was on July 4th, about 6 years ago. Calm night, a large crowd
watching fireworks. The Mac had been borrowed by a brother-in-law, who
had only used it a few times. There were 8 adults on deck, some
standing forward, and three small kids below. The cause of the rollover
is unclear, but I assume after weighing anchor the skipper goosed the
throttle with the helm over, and the boat lurched. It was probably
pulled over by someone hanging onto the shrouds. Two of the kids below
drowned.

There was a big trial, experts for both sides. I think USSailing
actually sent witnesses against Mac. In the end Mac avoided paying
damages because the skipper was drunk. Of course, everyone else out
there (and half the boaters across the country) was drunk that night,
but only these two kids died. I always thought that incident was the
reason why Mac added some ballast in the new design.

JimC would like to write this off as just a drunk operator incident, but
frankly, it happened so quickly and was so unexpected, that it might
have happened even if he was sober. My issue is that 8 adults is not
normally gross overloading on a 26 foot boat, and goosing the throttle
on a typical sailboat does not instantly create a dangerous situation.
Given that Macs are often sold to novices, the description of this event
should be required reading by all Mac owners.

http://www.ne-ts.com/ar/ar-407capsize.html