Tragedy on Lake Michigan...

[Tony]

Big storm, huge wind, two dead.
Condolences to the families...

http://www.freep.com/article/20110719/NEWS06/107190402/2-drown-6-rescued-race-boat-capsizes-Lake-Michigan

[jl1962]

Here's the Chicago Trib article:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-mackinac-capsize-20110719,0,7253916.story

Terrible tragedy, experienced crew. Sounds like they got the sails down and everyone clipped in before the squall hit. But this is a very light, tippy boat and it capsized, bare poles with crew members under water and unable to unclip. Sounds like there may have been a head injury as well.

The Mac is a great race- huge fleets, great parties, but usually a drifter - not this time though.....

:frown:

[jstrahn]

Very sad. Condolences to the families.

Storms can come up in a hurry on Lake Michigan. When I was 8 years old, my family took a vacation up to Green Bay with our 22 foot sailboat. We were out on Green Bay when a storm hit. 60 MPH winds and I'm not sure how big of seas. I do know that you'd see land, then just water, then land every time a swell overtook us.

We eventually made it into a marina but it's one of the few times I ever saw concern on my dad's face as a kid. When we got to the marina, there were 40+ foot boats coming in with their masts snapped in half and other damage from the main lake.

I definitely think about that experience every time I go out on the water and try to be as prepared as possible as a result. No matter how prepared you are, it goes to show things can still happen if it can happen to an experienced crew such as this.

[mphatc]

Another sad loss, leaving young children w/o a Dad . . Condolences to all!

My Dad had a close call on a 40' wing keel boat years ago when it lost the lead filled keel . . and capsized . . . the picture of this yacht looks like some thing is missing on the keel or the CG mounted a light on it?



Mario L.

[jl1962]

The keel is OK. Probably just a strobe.

There used to be a Kiwi 35 out of Manhasset Bay years ago. It was sailed by some very good sailors, but they used to crash and burn when the breeze was up.

Mario - what boat was your Dad on?

[Ghost]

Very sad. It seems like nearly always when someone is killed on the water, it is a result of one or more major errors. These folks sound like they really knew what they were doing and did everything right, just experiencing an unpreventable tragedy. But my hat is off to the skipper and others whose alert action may have saved 6 lives.

Having raced on a 35 footer, I can't shed the sickening thought of what it must have been like when the boat didn't right itself. You always think to yourself that if you do get knocked down, you just have to keep from getting hurt or knocked out and separated from the boat, and all will be fine.

[DonziJon]

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110719/...#ixzz1Sa2AaXlW
This story is tragic, but it's not suprising to me. Check out the link below. Read the Specs. The KIWI 35 is a 35 foot 2800 pound boat. It's just a sailing canoe with outrigged platforms for the "Live Ballast"..the crew, to keep the boat upright under sail. It's a VERY light weight 35' daysailer with a very narrow waterline beam. This is not a family cruising boat. It's not a boat you want to be out in 50 knot winds. No matter how skillful the crew, this boat is really not designed to take big winds..Particularly GUSTY wind.
In my opinion, the crew did everything right. BUT: Sails OFF or not, that boat was going over. A typical 35' sailboat on the lake probably weighs over 15,000 pounds. DJ
http://www.sailingtexas.com/skiwi35a.html
YES: I know something about sailboats. Lake Michigan is Big Water. :nilly:

[Ghost]

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110719/...#ixzz1Sa2AaXlW
This story is tragic, but it's not suprising to me. Check out the link below. Read the Specs. The KIWI 35 is a 35 foot 2800 pound boat. It's just a sailing canoe with outrigged platforms for the "Live Ballast"..the crew, to keep the boat upright under sail. It's a VERY light weight 35' daysailer with a very narrow waterline beam. This is not a family cruising boat. It's not a boat you want to be out in 50 knot winds. No matter how skillful the crew, this boat is really not designed to take big winds..Particularly GUSTY wind.
In my opinion, the crew did everything right. BUT: Sails OFF or not, that boat was going over. A typical 35' sailboat on the lake probably weighs over 15,000 pounds. DJ
http://www.sailingtexas.com/skiwi35a.html
YES: I know something about sailboats. Lake Michigan is Big Water. :nilly:

It certainly looked like one of the modern featherweight light-air boats, but I had no idea it was that light. (Is that even possible? I'd have thought the keel bulb would have had that much weight alone.)

[jl1962]

Definitely NOT a modern boat - probably 25-30 years old. But one of the first ULDB boats and patterned after some of the winged boats on Lake Garda in Italy.

I read a different report saying 50 knots sustained for over 10 minutes w/ gusts close to 100! Unfortunatley they had no chance. Boat was laid flat for the duration and never came up. With life jackets on and tethered to the boat and underwater, it could have been very difficult to unclip. Some harnesses have quick release shackles on only one end..................Throw in possible injuries sustained and that it was nearly 1 AM and the odds get long.

Very unfortunate.

[zelatore]

A couple of things caught my eye about the article.

First- they say this is the first death in the race's history. I thought there had been others? Maybe I'm simply confusing boats lost? I was sure this race had some history with crazy weather and downed boats.

Second- note they mention wave heights of 4 to 6 feet. After reading some of the comments here about the boat and her design it seems like wave height was of little concern, but keep that in mind the next time you hear people talking about how they run their 16/18/22 in 6'+ seas. Aside from the BS factor, I'd hate to think of a newbie reading one of those stories then hearing a weather forecast for 4 to 6's and deciding to take his Donzi out anyway. I don't think most people here have any idea how big a wave the height of an average man really is.

[pipnit]

"the race is usually a drifter"
Not true! I've done six Mac's (haven't done one in ten years though) and they're always different and you almost always experience a wide variety of weather. I've had races where it took days with no wind, and I've been in races where it's blowin' the entire time but usually it's a good mix. It's also really a craps shoot until you get to Point Betsy and make the turn. It's 333 miles in a straight line so I think it would be naive to think that it's going to be the same weather the entire way.
I would NEVER accept the invite to be a crew member on a KIWI 35. That's a badass beercan boat but would be SKETCHY on a race like this. I wouldn't do it. So sad.
5'-6' footers in a 16'-18' or 22', now that's just funny.
The last three races I did the Mac on was on an absolutely GORGEOUS boat that my godfather restored, a 1970, 42' ORCA made in Italy. It was the original "THIRSTY TIGER" if anyone knows that boat (now a Santa Cruz 70). My godfather restored that boat perfectly and it was gorgeous. Flush, teak decks, gorgeous hardware and brightwork, very comfy and great in HEAVY winds. He sold it when the deck didn't have any life left in it.

[jl1962]

Pipnit -

I hear ya on the beer can thing. I went to school in Chicago and passed several times on this race. But you're right, you generally get a little bit of everything.

Similarly, friends have tried to get me to do a Bermuda Race, but I think I'd either be bored for 5 days or scared for 3 days! Either way, I'm not interested (well maybe one day).

Zel - I think someone passed away as a result of a heart attack several years ago, but these may be the first weather related/equipment related fatalities. Pretty good track record.

-Jay

[pipnit]

Here is a link to NBC news in Chicago with images from a gopro camera. The guy had it setup to take still images every couple of seconds. The caption said that they recorded the other boat that had capsized but I don't see it in any of these images.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/multimedia/Dramatic_Images__Boat_Capsized_by_Storm_During_Rac e_to_Mackinac_Chicago-125838068.html

[Carl C]

Very sad. It's been a bad year with several powerboat fatalities and now a sailboat. :( There have been at least 3 local drownings here by Milford by swimmers and kayakers getting caught in undertows. Let's all get a wake up call out of this and be extra careful this summer.

[Fishermanjm]

i'm with ya carl,,, got my new life line jacket on at all times, one just never knows

[jl1962]

Here is a link to NBC news in Chicago with images from a gopro camera. The guy had it setup to take still images every couple of seconds. The caption said that they recorded the other boat that had capsized but I don't see it in any of these images.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/multimedia/Dramatic_Images__Boat_Capsized_by_Storm_During_Rac e_to_Mackinac_Chicago-125838068.html


WOW!
That's a J/109. Here's another report from an old North American 40
http://www.sail-world.com/Newsletter_show.cfm?nid=461197

100kts recorded! Boat laid flat. Going sidways at 9 kts. Friend of mine did this year's race on a Farr 40. He's OK.

[pipnit]

WOW!
That's a J/109. Here's another report from an old North American 40
http://www.sail-world.com/Newsletter_show.cfm?nid=461197

100kts recorded! Boat laid flat. Going sidways at 9 kts. Friend of mine did this year's race on a Farr 40. He's OK.

I live in Beverly Shores Indiana which is on the S.E. tip of Lake Michigan, basically directly across the lake from Chicago. We get hit with nasty storms every summer. About five years back we got a whopper. www.iwindsurf.com recorded 130mph gusts at the Michigan City Coast Guard Station and we got hit much harder than Michigan City so I would venture to guess gusts of 150mph? Maybe? I know a lot of roofs got ripped off, some buckled and a rail car was blown OFF the tracks. That was crazy.
The most recent crazy storm we had was about a month ago where we were getting 2" and larger hail. I had never seen that before. I have over 10k of damage on my Suburban and the same on my wifes car.
Mother nature deserves all the respect you have.

http://dunesman.com/photo/gallery/IMG_FE041701-CAD8-49BC-BCE2-CBFB02005C32_lg.jpg

http://dunesman.com/photo/gallery/IMG_7D956598-A8C3-4EBB-81C3-166D38676079_lg.jpg

[Ghost]

Definitely NOT a modern boat - probably 25-30 years old. But one of the first ULDB boats and patterned after some of the winged boats on Lake Garda in Italy.

Good point--poor wording on my part. For me a "modern" boat is any of the light, flatter-bottom designs like a Mumm or Melges. Light air sleds, compared to the J boat I was used to. Not sure when they started making them. All the ones I raced against seemed like they were pretty new in the mid 90's. And <checks watch> damn, that was over 15 years ago. Time flies.

Some other folks mentioned the winds--I was struck by this too. The reports that talked about 50ish mph struck me as VERY low. I have raced in 40-50 mph winds and I don't think it'd have given these guys a problem, especially if they struck their sails in time, which reports suggest they did. I bet it was 90+.

[jl1962]

I know what you mean. I live in a "modern" style house but it is 30 years old!