Capt. Neal® writes:

Poor fellow! The man lost his life primarily because
of poor design by the naval architect.

Those C&Cs are a death trap in more than one way it seems.

But, to design a cruising boat with a boom so low that it
can smack you up side the head is criminal. I should think
a nice little lawsuit would straighten out C&C and the
negligent designer.

You won't find a Wm. Tripp Jr. designed cruiser with such
flaws.

CN

R.



Actually, you will.

I have a Columbia 32, designed by none other than William Tripp Jr,
and the boom sweeps over the cockpit definitely below head-height. At
least if I have the 'flattening reef' in the main out (I think there
is a fancier name for it but I forgot it). If I have inexperienced
crew, I sometimes put the flattening reef in even in light airs so
that the boom is a half-foot higher and less dangerous.

--Ernst

Columbia 32 #25 'Tavernier'

On Sun, 21 Nov 2004 16:30:46 -0800, "Jonathan Ganz"
wrote:


For either the slow, stupid, or stunned, it's called the boom boom.

We had a regatta in my club in 2001 during which a fellow was killed
via "boom boom". A storm front went through creating 50 knot winds
that...unusually...stayed at 30-35 knots most of the day even as the
sun came out. During the races, a poor ******* got clipped in the
head...hard...during a crash jib (no preventers or concept of "duck",
I assume). He failed to fall down and got smashed on the opposite side
of the head a couple of seconds later.

They pulled the plug on him after a week in a flatline coma.

Even though I recall the boat was a C&C 29, the motion was so fast and
hard that even that boat's 10 foot boom had enough velocity to crunch
a skull.

So use preventers and watch sea-state roll in downwind situations.

R.

Poor fellow! The man lost his life primarily because
of poor design by the naval architect.

Those C&Cs are a death trap in more than one way it seems.

But, to design a cruising boat with a boom so low that it
can smack you up side the head is criminal. I should think
a nice little lawsuit would straighten out C&C and the
negligent designer.

You won't find a Wm. Tripp Jr. designed cruiser with such
flaws.

CN



"rhys" wrote in message ...
On Sun, 21 Nov 2004 16:30:46 -0800, "Jonathan Ganz"
wrote:


For either the slow, stupid, or stunned, it's called the boom boom.

We had a regatta in my club in 2001 during which a fellow was killed
via "boom boom". A storm front went through creating 50 knot winds
that...unusually...stayed at 30-35 knots most of the day even as the
sun came out. During the races, a poor ******* got clipped in the
head...hard...during a crash jib (no preventers or concept of "duck",
I assume). He failed to fall down and got smashed on the opposite side
of the head a couple of seconds later.

They pulled the plug on him after a week in a flatline coma.

Even though I recall the boat was a C&C 29, the motion was so fast and
hard that even that boat's 10 foot boom had enough velocity to crunch
a skull.

So use preventers and watch sea-state roll in downwind situations.

R.

First, please don't cross post. Second, if this story were true as
recounted, the coroner and next of kin should have had issues with the
race committee for starting a race with a "storm front" in progress. By
the way, I have never seen a documented case of a race being started in
gale force conditions (even though blowhard toughguy dinghy sailors
claim it often happens). It is my experience that untrained sailors
usually exaggerate the wind conditions by 5-10 knots by chosing to
describe the peak wind speed as if it were the average. On the other
hand, those same people do not appreciate that from the predicted
forecast, one should _expect_ winds with peaks that are 50% higher than
the number given.

Nevertheless, many things on a boat can maim or kill you. The boom is a
common source of injury but a good skipper should take account of the
risks associated with his course in high winds. If nothing else, an
uncrolled gybe in high winds can seriously damage the boat and even lead
to a dismasting. These should be unacceptable outcomes to a good skipper
who will take proper precautions to protect his vessel and crew. It's a
pity that testosterone seesm to get in the way of people retiring from
races when they don't really know how to handle the conditions.

Cheers FT

rhys wrote:

On Sun, 21 Nov 2004 16:30:46 -0800, "Jonathan Ganz"
wrote:


For either the slow, stupid, or stunned, it's called the boom boom.


We had a regatta in my club in 2001 during which a fellow was killed
via "boom boom". A storm front went through creating 50 knot winds
that...unusually...stayed at 30-35 knots most of the day even as the
sun came out. During the races, a poor ******* got clipped in the
head...hard...during a crash jib (no preventers or concept of "duck",
I assume). He failed to fall down and got smashed on the opposite side
of the head a couple of seconds later.

They pulled the plug on him after a week in a flatline coma.

Even though I recall the boat was a C&C 29, the motion was so fast and
hard that even that boat's 10 foot boom had enough velocity to crunch
a skull.

So use preventers and watch sea-state roll in downwind situations.

R.

Just ignore crapton.

That sounds rough... Sounds like a combination of bad judgement on the part
of the skipper and the guy who got hit. We typically sail in 25+ kts, and
rarely use a preventer unless we're going to have a long downwind run. We
don't race though.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"rhys" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 21 Nov 2004 16:30:46 -0800, "Jonathan Ganz"
wrote:


For either the slow, stupid, or stunned, it's called the boom boom.

We had a regatta in my club in 2001 during which a fellow was killed
via "boom boom". A storm front went through creating 50 knot winds
that...unusually...stayed at 30-35 knots most of the day even as the
sun came out. During the races, a poor ******* got clipped in the
head...hard...during a crash jib (no preventers or concept of "duck",
I assume). He failed to fall down and got smashed on the opposite side
of the head a couple of seconds later.

They pulled the plug on him after a week in a flatline coma.

Even though I recall the boat was a C&C 29, the motion was so fast and
hard that even that boat's 10 foot boom had enough velocity to crunch
a skull.

So use preventers and watch sea-state roll in downwind situations.

R.

Seems like this was a legitimate cross-post.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Nav" wrote in message
...
First, please don't cross post. Second, if this story were true as
recounted, the coroner and next of kin should have had issues with the
race committee for starting a race with a "storm front" in progress. By
the way, I have never seen a documented case of a race being started in
gale force conditions (even though blowhard toughguy dinghy sailors claim
it often happens). It is my experience that untrained sailors usually
exaggerate the wind conditions by 5-10 knots by chosing to describe the
peak wind speed as if it were the average. On the other hand, those same
people do not appreciate that from the predicted forecast, one should
_expect_ winds with peaks that are 50% higher than the number given.

Nevertheless, many things on a boat can maim or kill you. The boom is a
common source of injury but a good skipper should take account of the
risks associated with his course in high winds. If nothing else, an
uncrolled gybe in high winds can seriously damage the boat and even lead
to a dismasting. These should be unacceptable outcomes to a good skipper
who will take proper precautions to protect his vessel and crew. It's a
pity that testosterone seesm to get in the way of people retiring from
races when they don't really know how to handle the conditions.

Cheers FT

rhys wrote:

On Sun, 21 Nov 2004 16:30:46 -0800, "Jonathan Ganz"
wrote:


For either the slow, stupid, or stunned, it's called the boom boom.


We had a regatta in my club in 2001 during which a fellow was killed
via "boom boom". A storm front went through creating 50 knot winds
that...unusually...stayed at 30-35 knots most of the day even as the
sun came out. During the races, a poor ******* got clipped in the
head...hard...during a crash jib (no preventers or concept of "duck",
I assume). He failed to fall down and got smashed on the opposite side
of the head a couple of seconds later.

They pulled the plug on him after a week in a flatline coma.

Even though I recall the boat was a C&C 29, the motion was so fast and
hard that even that boat's 10 foot boom had enough velocity to crunch
a skull.

So use preventers and watch sea-state roll in downwind situations.

R.

Love the name of your boat. There is a town in the Keys with that name, BTW.

What's your boom doing so low? Check the mast and look for an old, faded-
out black line. This should be where the boom is located. Chances are
somebody lowered the boom and increased the mainsail size. There is no
reason on that 32-footer why the boom is sweeping the cockpit at less
than head height.

To make things safer for yourself either raise the boom to specs or
install a sit-under bimini which makes it impossible for you to get
your head smacked by the boom. You may even have the wrong
mainsail on that boat. Check the specs on the original and measure
yours against it. It could be the leech is longer which some racers
do to lower the end of the boom.

Check out my website for a few pictures of a bimini which is made
to sit under. However, even with the bimini laid down the boom is high
enough not to smack someone upside the head. If you have a boat with
such obvious dangers it is smart to get rid of them one way or the
other before they do you in.

Listen to a man with impeccable credentials and years of experience.

Capt. Neal
USCG Master, Near Shore, 25GT also
Operator Uninspected Passenger Vessels, Near Shore
http://captneal.homestead.com/index.html



wrote in message ...

Capt. Neal® writes:

Poor fellow! The man lost his life primarily because
of poor design by the naval architect.

Those C&Cs are a death trap in more than one way it seems.

But, to design a cruising boat with a boom so low that it
can smack you up side the head is criminal. I should think
a nice little lawsuit would straighten out C&C and the
negligent designer.

You won't find a Wm. Tripp Jr. designed cruiser with such
flaws.

CN

R.



Actually, you will.

I have a Columbia 32, designed by none other than William Tripp Jr,
and the boom sweeps over the cockpit definitely below head-height. At
least if I have the 'flattening reef' in the main out (I think there
is a fancier name for it but I forgot it). If I have inexperienced
crew, I sometimes put the flattening reef in even in light airs so
that the boom is a half-foot higher and less dangerous.

--Ernst

Columbia 32 #25 'Tavernier'

"Nav" wrote in message ...
snipped some
Nevertheless, many things on a boat can maim or kill you. The boom is a
common source of injury but a good skipper should take account of the
risks associated with his course in high winds. If nothing else, an
uncrolled gybe in high winds can seriously damage the boat and even lead
to a dismasting. These should be unacceptable outcomes to a good skipper
who will take proper precautions to protect his vessel and crew. It's a
pity that testosterone seesm to get in the way of people retiring from
races when they don't really know how to handle the conditions.


That's what's wrong with racing. Testosterone and money always gets
in the way of common sense. Racing boats always push the envelope of
safety by virtue of their being built to minimal standards to start and
then modifying to skimp here and skimp there to cut weight until
catastrophic failures occur. This is the nature of the game. Never
mind a few people get maimed or killed in the process.

That's why racers cannot be called sailors. They are cowboys.
They ride the bulls. The rest of us sane people who cruise respect
lives and safety. We cannot abide those who would put others
in danger because they don't value their own safety. To us
sailing is more than a game with rules to break.

We don't mind speaking up about it.

Respectfully,
Capt. Neal
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, you don't have to worry about it, since there's never anyone on your
boat except you. And, you never go anywhere of course.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Capt. Neal®" wrote in message
...

"Nav" wrote in message
...
snipped some
Nevertheless, many things on a boat can maim or kill you. The boom is a
common source of injury but a good skipper should take account of the
risks associated with his course in high winds. If nothing else, an
uncrolled gybe in high winds can seriously damage the boat and even lead
to a dismasting. These should be unacceptable outcomes to a good skipper
who will take proper precautions to protect his vessel and crew. It's a
pity that testosterone seesm to get in the way of people retiring from
races when they don't really know how to handle the conditions.


That's what's wrong with racing. Testosterone and money always gets
in the way of common sense. Racing boats always push the envelope of
safety by virtue of their being built to minimal standards to start and
then modifying to skimp here and skimp there to cut weight until
catastrophic failures occur. This is the nature of the game. Never
mind a few people get maimed or killed in the process.

That's why racers cannot be called sailors. They are cowboys.
They ride the bulls. The rest of us sane people who cruise respect
lives and safety. We cannot abide those who would put others
in danger because they don't value their own safety. To us
sailing is more than a game with rules to break.

We don't mind speaking up about it.

Respectfully,
Capt. Neal
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Capt. Neal®" wrote in message
...
Love the name of your boat. There is a town in the Keys with that name,
BTW.

What's your boom doing so low? Check the mast and look for an old, faded-
out black line. This should be where the boom is located. Chances are
somebody lowered the boom and increased the mainsail size. There is no
reason on that 32-footer why the boom is sweeping the cockpit at less
than head height.


I thought you had walked the plank somewhere!
Anyway, the Mirage 33 I crewed on for 4 years had a boom that was about 6'
1" off the cockpit sole. When I got hit, it was because I was standing on
the seat trying to stow away excess halyard line and I made the mistake of
letting the skipper control the ship's wheel.