"News f2s" wrote in message
...

"Jonathan Ganz" wrote in message
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I would think that some boat interiors would become uninhabitable if
the boat were dismasted. This happened in the Fastnet Race, and I'm
sure it's happened other times.

The boat becomes very much more stable, giving it an extremely rapid
natural rocking motion. If this is sparked off by waves, the boat is all
but untenable.

The problem is that in those conditions a liferaft also rolls viciously,
and is likely to be overturned from time to time. Three of us experienced
that liferaft motion in a wind over tide, 2 metre breaking waves, just off
Appledore in the Bristol Channel.

It was a training exercise that went wrong. The lifeboat call-out was
delayed. We were blown downwind into the race. Like being in a washing
machine. Lots of minor injuries, one broken arm. Never again. We were
stuck in this rotating hell for about 15 minutes, then when the lifeboat
arrived it took a further 20 minutes to get us all aboard. By that time
all of us were cripplingly seasick - and we were experienced sailors, used
to offshore racing, who prided ourselves on our strong stomachs. Yuck.

JimB

I think you mean "because more *unstable*" right? I'm not sure what would
have been worse... a washing machine with sharp objects or just an empty
washing machine with soft sides. I think I'd like to avoid both!

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