On 1/20/2014 6:48 AM, Wayne.B wrote:

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The North Atlantic in the winter time is a dangerous place. Water
temperatures are very cold, and there are usually gale force winds 20
to 30% of the time. The biggest problem however for a small boat is
that there is no nearby shelter if conditions deteriorate. You are
fully committed to being "out there". Even large, well crewed boats
in top condition get into trouble once in awhile in circumstances like
that. It only takes one major gear failure to become life
threatening, and there are a lot of things that can go wrong.


Surprisingly, the water temps where this occurred weren't that cold when
I have been there. That is, it's not like ME or Canada but it doesn't
make for nice swimming either. As I posted, that guy was brave going
under to do the repairs of the steering.

If one part failed, I'd agree with your contention that even well crewed
/ found boats can get into trouble at 30 - 40 kts but this boat didn't
have a system failure but seemed to disassemble as it foundered around
out there.

I've been on a few cats as a guest and have been impressed with both the
vast living quarters and accompanying luxury but also the light
construction I observed.

At one yard I saw a 60' cat delivered from South Africa to its US owners
needing some major rebuilding. AFAIK, the trip was non-eventful so only
normal conditions resulted in a brand new boat needing major hull and
rudder work.