Southbound Swan 44 lost off the New Jersey coast along with owner/skipper
 

One lost, two rescued, USCG Rescue Swimmer injured.

The boat, Freefall, was owned until recently by well known Long
Island Sound racing sailor, Bill McFaul, whom I raced with and raced
against any number of times. Apparently the new owner was taking the
boat south this week in some pretty gnarly conditions. The boat was
well built as you might expect for a Swan 44, and always well
maintained and equipped when I sailed on it.

https://www.piersystem.com/go/doc/651/236966/

Reading the USCG account of conditions, you have to wonder what the
heck they were thinking of going out there. Tragic. At least they
had a working EPIRB, properly registered.

Southbound Swan 44 lost off the New Jersey coast along withowner/skipper
 

On Oct 30, 3:18*pm, Wayne.B wrote:
One lost, two rescued, USCG Rescue Swimmer injured.

The boat, Freefall, *was owned until recently by well known Long
Island Sound racing sailor, Bill McFaul, whom I raced with and raced
against any number of times. *Apparently the new owner was taking the
boat south this week in some pretty gnarly conditions. *The boat was
well built as you might expect for a Swan 44, and always well
maintained and equipped when I sailed on it.

https://www.piersystem.com/go/doc/651/236966/

Reading the USCG account of conditions, you have to wonder what the
heck they were thinking of going out there. * Tragic. *At least they
had a working EPIRB, properly registered.

Swan Song for the Swan 44.

Sorry to hear of the loss. But it seems like it wasn't a good day for
an outing.

Sill a bad deal.

Southbound Swan 44 lost off the New Jersey coast along with owner/skipper
 

"Wayne.B" wrote:

Apparently the new owner was taking the
boat south this week in some pretty gnarly conditions.

Some people refuse to understand the basics:

"Don't F**K with Mother Nature".

You will always lose.

Lew

Southbound Swan 44 lost off the New Jersey coast along with owner/skipper
 

Wayne.B wrote in
:

Reading the USCG account of conditions, you have to wonder what the
heck they were thinking of going out there. Tragic. At least they
had a working EPIRB, properly registered.



Wow...50' seas! Too bad the attempted rescue killed that one guy.

You're right....What WERE they thinking?





Did someone HAVE to be SOMEWHERE by a certain time/date?

I bet the answer to that question had something to do with it....

Southbound Swan 44 lost off the New Jersey coast along with owner/skipper
 

Wayne.B wrote:

One lost, two rescued, USCG Rescue Swimmer injured.

The boat, Freefall, was owned until recently by well known Long
Island Sound racing sailor, Bill McFaul, whom I raced with and raced
against any number of times. Apparently the new owner was taking the
boat south this week in some pretty gnarly conditions. The boat was
well built as you might expect for a Swan 44, and always well
maintained and equipped when I sailed on it.

https://www.piersystem.com/go/doc/651/236966/

Reading the USCG account of conditions, you have to wonder what the
heck they were thinking of going out there. Tragic. At least they
had a working EPIRB, properly registered.

40-50 kt winds with 40-50 foot seas sounds wrong. 50 foot seas and the
CG managed a rescue even from the sea? Also I didn't see any info on the
boat's condition. Maybe the folks wanted a ride off rather than the boat
being swamped or in actual danger of sinking.

Southbound Swan 44 lost off the New Jersey coast along with owner/skipper
 

"slide" wrote in message
...
Wayne.B wrote:
snipped some
40-50 kt winds with 40-50 foot seas sounds wrong. 50 foot seas and the CG
managed a rescue even from the sea? Also I didn't see any info on the
boat's condition. Maybe the folks wanted a ride off rather than the boat
being swamped or in actual danger of sinking.


You don't get fifty foot seas with 40-50 knot winds. NEVER! It takes a
hurricane for that. It takes lots of fetch and 12 hours or so of hurricane
winds.

http://www.marinewaypoints.com/marine/wind.shtml

Everybody always exaggerates the height of large seas by a factor of two or
more.

Wilbur Hubbard

Southbound Swan 44 lost off the New Jersey coast along with owner/skipper
 

Wilbur Hubbard wrote:
"slide" wrote in message
...
Wayne.B wrote:
snipped some
40-50 kt winds with 40-50 foot seas sounds wrong. 50 foot seas and the CG
managed a rescue even from the sea? Also I didn't see any info on the
boat's condition. Maybe the folks wanted a ride off rather than the boat
being swamped or in actual danger of sinking.


You don't get fifty foot seas with 40-50 knot winds. NEVER! It takes a
hurricane for that. It takes lots of fetch and 12 hours or so of hurricane
winds.

http://www.marinewaypoints.com/marine/wind.shtml

Everybody always exaggerates the height of large seas by a factor of two or
more.


Also I doubt the CG could perform a rescue with 50' waves if such were
there. Sounds like some guys lost nerve because the article implies the
boat was floating than swamped. Too bad one guy died and a nice boat lost.

Southbound Swan 44 lost off the New Jersey coast along with owner/skipper
 

On Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:16:16 -0600, slide
wrote:

Wilbur Hubbard wrote:
"slide" wrote in message
...
Wayne.B wrote:
snipped some
40-50 kt winds with 40-50 foot seas sounds wrong. 50 foot seas and the CG
managed a rescue even from the sea? Also I didn't see any info on the
boat's condition. Maybe the folks wanted a ride off rather than the boat
being swamped or in actual danger of sinking.


You don't get fifty foot seas with 40-50 knot winds. NEVER! It takes a
hurricane for that. It takes lots of fetch and 12 hours or so of hurricane
winds.

http://www.marinewaypoints.com/marine/wind.shtml

Everybody always exaggerates the height of large seas by a factor of two or
more.


Also I doubt the CG could perform a rescue with 50' waves if such were
there. Sounds like some guys lost nerve because the article implies the
boat was floating than swamped. Too bad one guy died and a nice boat lost.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...t-20629-2.html
http://lifefloatingby.blogspot.com/2...1_archive.html
http://pattispeopleandplaces.blogspo...-rubright.html

Southbound Swan 44 lost off the New Jersey coast along with owner/skipper
 

In article , slide
wrote:

Wilbur Hubbard wrote:
"slide" wrote in message
...
Wayne.B wrote:
snipped some
40-50 kt winds with 40-50 foot seas sounds wrong. 50 foot seas and the CG
managed a rescue even from the sea? Also I didn't see any info on the
boat's condition. Maybe the folks wanted a ride off rather than the boat
being swamped or in actual danger of sinking.


You don't get fifty foot seas with 40-50 knot winds. NEVER! It takes a
hurricane for that. It takes lots of fetch and 12 hours or so of hurricane
winds.

http://www.marinewaypoints.com/marine/wind.shtml

Everybody always exaggerates the height of large seas by a factor of two or
more.


Also I doubt the CG could perform a rescue with 50' waves if such were
there. Sounds like some guys lost nerve because the article implies the
boat was floating than swamped. Too bad one guy died and a nice boat lost.

The USCG have DONE rescues, in 50Ft Seas, up here in the Bering Sea.....
They do it with JayHawk Choppers and very long Rescue Winch lines.

The Chopper Pilots flying out of Air Station Kodiak, are the best in
the World, at SEA Rescue from Choppers.

Southbound Swan 44 lost off the New Jersey coast along with owner/skipper
 

What about the effect of the Gulfstream possibly affecting the size of the
seas?


"Wilbur Hubbard" wrote in message
anews.com...

"slide" wrote in message
...
Wayne.B wrote:
snipped some
40-50 kt winds with 40-50 foot seas sounds wrong. 50 foot seas and the CG
managed a rescue even from the sea? Also I didn't see any info on the
boat's condition. Maybe the folks wanted a ride off rather than the boat
being swamped or in actual danger of sinking.


You don't get fifty foot seas with 40-50 knot winds. NEVER! It takes a
hurricane for that. It takes lots of fetch and 12 hours or so of hurricane
winds.

http://www.marinewaypoints.com/marine/wind.shtml

Everybody always exaggerates the height of large seas by a factor of two
or more.

Wilbur Hubbard

Southbound Swan 44 lost off the New Jersey coast along with owner/skipper
 

Richard wrote:
What about the effect of the Gulfstream possibly affecting the size of the
seas?



If the gulf stream accelerated to 25 kts - possible.

Southbound Swan 44 lost off the New Jersey coast along withowner/skipper
 

On Nov 1, 3:14*pm, slide wrote:
Richard wrote:
What about the effect of the Gulfstream possibly affecting the size of the
seas?

If the gulf stream accelerated to 25 kts - possible.


I just had a look at the National Data Bouy Center web site, and
unfortunately the date in question falls out of the "recent data"
report but has not made it to archival data. It would be interesting
to go back in a week or so and review the archival data regarding wave
height in the area at the time of this event.

Southbound Swan 44 lost off the New Jersey coast along with owner/skipper
 

On Mon, 3 Nov 2008 09:29:27 -0800 (PST), John
wrote:

On Nov 1, 3:14*pm, slide wrote:
Richard wrote:
What about the effect of the Gulfstream possibly affecting the size of the
seas?

If the gulf stream accelerated to 25 kts - possible.


I just had a look at the National Data Bouy Center web site, and
unfortunately the date in question falls out of the "recent data"
report but has not made it to archival data. It would be interesting
to go back in a week or so and review the archival data regarding wave
height in the area at the time of this event.


I was tracking the weather closely that week because there were
several south bound boats that I knew of that were out there. There
was a strong low pressure system centered over southern New England
which was bringing west to northwest winds, 20 to 30 kts to the
coastal areas, closer to gale force offshore.

The Swan 44 was about 100 miles east of Cape May which put them off
the continental shelf and into the western edge of the Gulf Stream.
The Gulf Stream is capable of creating very large, steep waves in any
strong wind with a northerly component. Whether or not they were 50
ft high or not is anyone's guess but it was very likely that the waves
were high, steep and breaking. Any 40 to 50 ft boat can be
rolled/capsized by a 10 ft breaking wave, and the conditions they
encountered were probably more than twice that.

Southbound Swan 44 lost off the New Jersey coast along with owner/skipper
 

Does anyone know the status of the boat? Did it actually sink or is it
missing?

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 3 Nov 2008 09:29:27 -0800 (PST), John
wrote:

On Nov 1, 3:14 pm, slide wrote:
Richard wrote:
What about the effect of the Gulfstream possibly affecting the size of
the
seas?

If the gulf stream accelerated to 25 kts - possible.


I just had a look at the National Data Bouy Center web site, and
unfortunately the date in question falls out of the "recent data"
report but has not made it to archival data. It would be interesting
to go back in a week or so and review the archival data regarding wave
height in the area at the time of this event.


I was tracking the weather closely that week because there were
several south bound boats that I knew of that were out there. There
was a strong low pressure system centered over southern New England
which was bringing west to northwest winds, 20 to 30 kts to the
coastal areas, closer to gale force offshore.

The Swan 44 was about 100 miles east of Cape May which put them off
the continental shelf and into the western edge of the Gulf Stream.
The Gulf Stream is capable of creating very large, steep waves in any
strong wind with a northerly component. Whether or not they were 50
ft high or not is anyone's guess but it was very likely that the waves
were high, steep and breaking. Any 40 to 50 ft boat can be
rolled/capsized by a 10 ft breaking wave, and the conditions they
encountered were probably more than twice that.

Southbound Swan 44 lost off the New Jersey coast along with owner/skipper
 

On Tue, 4 Nov 2008 09:43:59 -0500, "Richard"
wrote:

Does anyone know the status of the boat? Did it actually sink or is it
missing?


All I know for sure is that it was rolled, dismasted and taking on
water. There's probably a good chance that it sank but I haven't
heard for sure. If not, it's probably on its way across the Atlantic
via the Gulf Stream.