http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/359134.stm


More than 150 people have been rescued during a regatta in Weymouth
Bay, Dorset, after 77 yachts capsized during a squall.


The BBC's Liz MacKean: "It was a dramatic end to the national
championships"
The sailors were knocked off their 18ft Dart catamarans by a
south-easterly wind of up to force 6.

But rescuers were quick to react and a mass launch of coastguard
helicopters and lifeboats went into action at about 1600 BST.

After three hours all 156 competitors had been accounted for.



Portland harbour masters rescue a capsized catamaran
A 37-year-old woman was airlifted to the Dorset County Hospital in
Dorchester suffering from hypothermia. Other reports suggest that as
many as 30 people needed treatment for the effects of the cold, and
Weymouth and District Hospital was still on major incident alert.

The local Weymouth lifeboat acted as co-ordinator, and used private
boats as a ferry service for the rescued people.

One of the survivors, yachtsman Mark Wray, said: "It was frightening
out there. The boats were flipping over. Everyone was concentrating on
getting ashore."

Unexpected weather

Coastguards and competitors alike have dismissed suggestions that the
race organisers might have been irresponsible.



No protection against the elements
"We are not meteorologists and you have to take into account that
forecasting squalls is somewhat difficult," said Mark Clark, a
spokesman for the Maritime Coastguard Agency.

"It is a professionally organised event, and they would have taken
account of the weather forecast before they put out."

Bob Fletcher, a former Olympic class sailor, also said the organisers
were not to blame.

"It certainly wasn't irresponsible because the standard of the field
that went out there are well capable of coping with almost anything.

"Everybody wears life-jackets and dry-suits but the rescue services
got concerned about the number of people in the water at the same
time."

But a local meteorological spokesman said that heavy winds had been
forecast before the race.

'We were caught out'

The chairman of the United Kingdom International Dart Association,
Richard Brown, himself capsized six times during the race along with
his 17-year-old son Oliver.

"We were caught out," he said. "We knew heavy weather was coming but
not until later. It just blew up."

He added: "The race organisers realised the number of boats that were
capsizing and alerted the coastguard and emergency services.

He insisted that all the competitors had been properly equipped with
buoyancy aids and dry suits.

He also said that rescue boats and larger yachts used by the
organisers had been on hand at various points along the triangular
course.

"We sail to the normal standards set by the Royal Yachting
Association," he said.

The catamarans involved were fairly small high-performance sailing
vessels, which would have been severely buffeted by the unexpected
squall.

The trampoline-like netting platform, which joins the hulls and
supports the crew, offers no protection against the sea or elements.

*********************************

Like I said, Cats are unstable and dangerious, should be used under
USCG supervision only.

Capt. American

Proves my point but still idiots like Jeff Morris claim
catamarans don't capsize. Had it been a ballasted
monhull race none of them would have capsized.

S.Simon - knows catamarans are not really seaworthy.


"Capt.American" wrote in message om...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/359134.stm


More than 150 people have been rescued during a regatta in Weymouth
Bay, Dorset, after 77 yachts capsized during a squall.


The BBC's Liz MacKean: "It was a dramatic end to the national
championships"
The sailors were knocked off their 18ft Dart catamarans by a
south-easterly wind of up to force 6.

But rescuers were quick to react and a mass launch of coastguard
helicopters and lifeboats went into action at about 1600 BST.

After three hours all 156 competitors had been accounted for.



Portland harbour masters rescue a capsized catamaran
A 37-year-old woman was airlifted to the Dorset County Hospital in
Dorchester suffering from hypothermia. Other reports suggest that as
many as 30 people needed treatment for the effects of the cold, and
Weymouth and District Hospital was still on major incident alert.

The local Weymouth lifeboat acted as co-ordinator, and used private
boats as a ferry service for the rescued people.

One of the survivors, yachtsman Mark Wray, said: "It was frightening
out there. The boats were flipping over. Everyone was concentrating on
getting ashore."

Unexpected weather

Coastguards and competitors alike have dismissed suggestions that the
race organisers might have been irresponsible.



No protection against the elements
"We are not meteorologists and you have to take into account that
forecasting squalls is somewhat difficult," said Mark Clark, a
spokesman for the Maritime Coastguard Agency.

"It is a professionally organised event, and they would have taken
account of the weather forecast before they put out."

Bob Fletcher, a former Olympic class sailor, also said the organisers
were not to blame.

"It certainly wasn't irresponsible because the standard of the field
that went out there are well capable of coping with almost anything.

"Everybody wears life-jackets and dry-suits but the rescue services
got concerned about the number of people in the water at the same
time."

But a local meteorological spokesman said that heavy winds had been
forecast before the race.

'We were caught out'

The chairman of the United Kingdom International Dart Association,
Richard Brown, himself capsized six times during the race along with
his 17-year-old son Oliver.

"We were caught out," he said. "We knew heavy weather was coming but
not until later. It just blew up."

He added: "The race organisers realised the number of boats that were
capsizing and alerted the coastguard and emergency services.

He insisted that all the competitors had been properly equipped with
buoyancy aids and dry suits.

He also said that rescue boats and larger yachts used by the
organisers had been on hand at various points along the triangular
course.

"We sail to the normal standards set by the Royal Yachting
Association," he said.

The catamarans involved were fairly small high-performance sailing
vessels, which would have been severely buffeted by the unexpected
squall.

The trampoline-like netting platform, which joins the hulls and
supports the crew, offers no protection against the sea or elements.

*********************************

Like I said, Cats are unstable and dangerious, should be used under
USCG supervision only.

Capt. American

Proves my point but still idiots like Jeff Morris claim
catamarans don't capsize. Had it been a ballasted
monhull race none of them would have capsized.

That race had big cruising cats in it?
Wow!!!!

Neal, even when you're close to making a point, you always blow it!

RB

A cat is a cat is a cat! The only difference between a
small one and a big one is it takes a little more wind
to capsize the big ones.

S.Simon - knows catamarans of all sizes are unsafe


"Bobsprit" wrote in message ...
Proves my point but still idiots like Jeff Morris claim
catamarans don't capsize. Had it been a ballasted
monhull race none of them would have capsized.

That race had big cruising cats in it?
Wow!!!!

Neal, even when you're close to making a point, you always blow it!

RB

A cat is a cat is a cat! The only difference between a
small one and a big one is it takes a little more wind
to capsize the big ones.

Bwahahahahahaha!
This is the difference between Neal and I. He's willing to lie about sailing
and boats to troll and do so in a way that is actually harmful to any newbie
who happens by.
His comments about Cats capsizing have ZERO evidence and no credibility.
A big well designed Cat is as safe as most any other design. For coastal
cruising in relative confort it's simply can't be matched.
Neal would do well to buy one.

RB

Zero evidence? Bwahahahahahahah. I guess you don't
think the link posted above is proof enough?

S.Simon - constantly kicking Booby's ass up one side
and down the other.

"Bobsprit" wrote in message ...
A cat is a cat is a cat! The only difference between a
small one and a big one is it takes a little more wind
to capsize the big ones.

Bwahahahahahaha!
This is the difference between Neal and I. He's willing to lie about sailing
and boats to troll and do so in a way that is actually harmful to any newbie
who happens by.
His comments about Cats capsizing have ZERO evidence and no credibility.
A big well designed Cat is as safe as most any other design. For coastal
cruising in relative confort it's simply can't be matched.
Neal would do well to buy one.

RB

On 09 Sep 2003 17:15:16 GMT, (Bobsprit) wrote this
crap:

A cat is a cat is a cat! The only difference between a
small one and a big one is it takes a little more wind
to capsize the big ones.

Bwahahahahahaha!
This is the difference between Neal and I. He's willing to lie about sailing
and boats to troll and do so in a way that is actually harmful to any newbie
who happens by.
His comments about Cats capsizing have ZERO evidence and no credibility.
A big well designed Cat is as safe as most any other design. For coastal
cruising in relative confort it's simply can't be matched.
Neal would do well to buy one.

RB

At my yacht club, there's lots of cats on the beach. Most have a
football-shaped float at the top of the mast. I was told that when
they flip over, this helps get them upright, and keeps the stick from
digging into the bottom.

If cats don't flip over, then why is the float at the top of the mast?




Ave Imperator Bush!
Bush Was Right! Four More Years!

BS. Not even close. Racing is a wholly different situation.

"Simple Simon" wrote in message
...
A cat is a cat is a cat! The only difference between a
small one and a big one is it takes a little more wind
to capsize the big ones.

S.Simon - knows catamarans of all sizes are unsafe


"Bobsprit" wrote in message
...
Proves my point but still idiots like Jeff Morris claim
catamarans don't capsize. Had it been a ballasted
monhull race none of them would have capsized.

That race had big cruising cats in it?
Wow!!!!

Neal, even when you're close to making a point, you always blow it!

RB

(Bobsprit) wrote in message ...
Proves my point but still idiots like Jeff Morris claim
catamarans don't capsize. Had it been a ballasted
monhull race none of them would have capsized.

That race had big cruising cats in it?
Wow!!!!

Neal, even when you're close to making a point, you always blow it!

RB


HEY RB,

The point is they all flipped over. One guy flipped 7 times!

And the reported did say Yachts!

Capt. American

You're trying to reason with a couple of stupid Democrats.

They can't think any more clearly about boats than they can
about politics. They have little common sense and no logic.

Booby and Morris are hopeless. You shove proof of the
instability of catamarans right in their pimply faces and they
make excuses like "Well, they were small cats and they
were racing and it doesn't count!" What weenies! the point
is catamarans of all sizes are more stable capsized than
right side up. This is exactly the opposite of a ballasted
monohull. That fact alone should be proof enough for them.

But, noooooooo . . .

Then they come back with, "Well, I'd rather be upside down
clinging to my cat or living inside the swamped hulls than drowned
at bottom with my sunk monohull". They claim positive flotation
for multihulls when this is only the case for some of the smallerones
and those designed with multiple watertight bulkheads, etc. They don't
seem to think that monohulls can be built and sailed with positive
flotation as well. Further, they don't seem to realize that even the
biggest multihull is small compared to some of the winds and waves
they'll encounter in a storm at sea. Losers!

S.Simon


"Capt.American" wrote in message om...
(Bobsprit) wrote in message ...
Proves my point but still idiots like Jeff Morris claim
catamarans don't capsize. Had it been a ballasted
monhull race none of them would have capsized.

That race had big cruising cats in it?
Wow!!!!

Neal, even when you're close to making a point, you always blow it!

RB


HEY RB,

The point is they all flipped over. One guy flipped 7 times!

And the reported did say Yachts!

Capt. American