Sad news from Weymouth

[Stuie]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-43794136

[great white]

Wow very bad news for the Family concerned and the Yacht Club.

 

Condolences to them all

[Mike Fox]

The boat was a fin-keeled fibreglass Westerly GK29, 29' long, around 3-4 tons in weight. They've been around since the 70s.

 

A yacht like that should be stored ashore resting on it's keel in an adjustable steel cradle giving secure support under and around the hull to stop movement. Additional props would be needed bow and stern to keep it absolutely secure, and braced like that, it should be able to survive winds of 100 mph plus, even with the mast up, and genoa furled, as in this case.

 

The fact the owner was present when it moved suggests he was working on the boat, perhaps antifouling, and may have accidentally or deliberately moved one of the supports (something that is banned in most boatyards). I'm sure an investigation will show if it's a failure of the supporting cradle, or the owner's activities that caused the tragedy.

 

While my heart goes out to the deceased and family at this time, for club members working on boats still, please DON'T move any supports for maintenance. Leave it to the professionals, or wait until launching time for a last minute touch-up of the "patches".

 

[great white]

14 hours ago, Mike Fox said:

The boat was a fin-keeled fibreglass Westerly GK29, 29' long, around 3-4 tons in weight. They've been around since the 70s.

 

A yacht like that should be stored ashore resting on it's keel in an adjustable steel cradle giving secure support under and around the hull to stop movement. Additional props would be needed bow and stern to keep it absolutely secure, and braced like that, it should be able to survive winds of 100 mph plus, even with the mast up, and genoa furled, as in this case.

 

The fact the owner was present when it moved suggests he was working on the boat, perhaps antifouling, and may have accidentally or deliberately moved one of the supports (something that is banned in most boatyards). I'm sure an investigation will show if it's a failure of the supporting cradle, or the owner's activities that caused the tragedy.

 

While my heart goes out to the deceased and family at this time, for club members working on boats still, please DON'T move any supports for maintenance. Leave it to the professionals, or wait until launching time for a last minute touch-up of the "patches".

 

Good advice not to move any pads fitted by the boatyard team.

 

Over many years I have looked at this at work. In my personal experience two coats rolled on over the majority of the hull gives a decent coating. when lifted prior to launching I brush on paint in the pad areas which gives a similar thickness.

 

even though this sometimes only dries for a few minutes I do not see and extra barnacles or other growth on these areas when the boat comes out next. So no need to take risks moving supports