David Lock

Is it technically difficult or prohibitively expensive to fit the yacht or even the life raft with a small "black box" type device that emits a signal for a couple of weeks that can be picked up by a passing vessel or even an aircraft?

PS. Hope it's a good outcome.

dl

G.Mac

iTrader: (2)

EPIRB, (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) http://www.cactusnav.com/mcmurdo-sma...irb-p-992.html

edit

From Wikipedia

Distress radio beacons, also known as emergency beacons, PLB (Personal Locator Beacon), ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) or EPIRB (Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon), are tracking transmitters which aid in the detection and location of boats, aircraft, and people in distress. Strictly, they are radiobeacons that interface with worldwide offered service of Cospas-Sarsat, the international satellite system for search and rescue (SAR). When manually activated, or automatically activated upon immersion, such beacons send out a distress signal. The signals are monitored worldwide and the location of the distress is detected by non-geostationary satellites, and can be located by some combination of GPS trilateration and doppler triangulation.[1]

The basic purpose of a distress radiobeacon is to help rescuers find survivors within the so-called "golden day"[2] (the first 24 hours following a traumatic event) during which the majority of survivors can usually be saved.

Since the inception of Cospas-Sarsat in 1982, distress radiobeacons have assisted in the rescue of over 28,000 people in more than 7,000 distress situations.[3] In 2010 alone, the system provided information which was used to rescue 2,388 persons in 641 distress situations

dpb

I'm bit surprised the only last couple days each..

And presumably boat had one additionally to crew members individually

Don't think Ill bother investing. ( 300 quid each )

Graz

Nope, they'd have had satellite locator beacons on that yacht, possibly even small ones fitted to life jackets: http://www.aspli.com/products/2119/p...FeJDMgodTDQA7g

Problem is they need to be activated to be detected and if the boat and crew are at the bottom of the ocean then they won't be detected anyway. As we know with the recent missing aircraft the sonar black box locators are difficult to detect even if you have a fairly good idea of where the thing is.

Best bet would be some sort of satellite tracking system so you'd know where it is up until say +/- 30 mins before it sank. GPS coordinates and ship ID sent to a ground station by satellite periodically. Problem is those sort of systems aren't cheap and if it were mandated that every ocean going vessel should have it then someone has to pay for it.

Sad as it is they knew the risks.

dpb

Hmm...I was fifty quid out

dpb

The satellite locator is also underwater, pointing to the floor

And probably several hundred miles from the liferaft

David Lock

But they sent out two manually operated beacons but this didn't help?

dl

dpb

Those are the personal epirbs. Apparently not...

tony de wonderful

21 year old Captain?

dpb

Daddies yacht. ( at a guess )

Skoobie Dhu

iTrader: (3)

US Coastguard said they believe they were correct to stop the search after 53 hours since the distress signal was received, UK Coastguard agreed, but apparently the consensus via an online petition is that the coastguard haven't a clue what they're talking about and the missing sailors are in their life raft waiting to be located..

Maybe the 200,000 signatories could stump up for the costs of the resumed search?

Winds me up when folk go on these adventures (they'd have been well aware of the poor forecast) and the others have to put their lives at risk to rescue them - not to mention the costs.

G.Mac

iTrader: (2)

well you know what they say about Yachts? WAFI's

Turbohot

http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/us-ends-se...ost-yacht-crew

dpb

Don't make sense , takes a lot smash those windows.

If they'd radioed they were taking on water how come they didn't get in the liferaft

Unless it wasn't operable?

tony de wonderful

The keel snapped off probably and it tipped them in the drink.

dpb

So radically unlikely it would happen like that though , all of a onner

And anyway the taking on water was reported by radio wasnt it?

tony de wonderful

The keel is apparently bolted on to this sort of vessel.

It can just fail if over-loaded or hits an object apparently.

dpb

Several bolts though, even running into a sleeping whale / container wouldn't chop it off instantly,

tony de wonderful

Put loads on the bolts over their yield strength and they fail.

Turbohot

Whatever happened is certainly a matter for discussion, and it is so sad for the families of those missing sailors. Some of them were so young with such an ambition to cross the seas! They would have known the risks, but they still wouldn't have thought and wanted for this to happen.

Strange that the little yacht (in comparison) has been found in Atlantic Ocean, but that humungous Malaysian plane still remains missing. The Indian Ocean must be more hazardous than the Atlantic one.

hodgy0_2

bolts do fail on the keels - remember Duran Duran's boat, Drum

same thing happened and it was over in seconds (I think another case happened recently in Greece)

all the mid range yachts (Dufour, Bravaria, beneteau) have bolt on keels,

dpb

That was design failure on Drum, apparently some Bavaria have had some problems.....

Don't think First 40.7 have known problems?

RA Dunk

Like almost every other type of window they are smashable though, I've done in a few windows during my time fishing, aboard alot bigger boats than that as well.

It's not a case of lets jump in the life raft because our windows are broken, they would have stayed aboard the yacht as long as the could have before attempting to launch the life raft, life rafts are a very last means of survival.

Reef

iTrader: (2)

I know this yacht, it used to frequent the yacht club I'm a member of. I remember talking to the guys when they were refitting to head off to the Caribbean.
It's so sad that they didn't manage to get the life raft off. I was so sure that they were still alive until I heard that news.
As for the smashed windows, if the mast, boom or rigging is still attached it could easily smash the windows with the movement of the waves. I've seen a block shatter a window before.
My thoughts are with the crews families.

dpb

Did they service the life raft, seems unthinkable it wouldn't have been

It should have gone off automatically when the thing was upside down surely it had hydrostatic releases

Turbohot

You were privileged to have met those brave and enthusiastic men.

I didn't know them, but my thoughts exactly. Very sad for them and very sad for the voyagers.

Reef

iTrader: (2)

To be honest I don't know. I would have thought it would have been in date and serviced. I don't recall seeing a cradle on the transom for the life raft so it might have been in the cockpit. If the boat flipped quickly which it likely the raft would have been stuck in the cockpit and now under the boat, inflated or otherwise it would have been useless. It's all speculation though, so many things can happen on a boat.

dpb

Oh, I thought most them are on a cradle between mast and foredeck hatch.

RA Dunk

Alot of life rafts due to their locations get trapped inside the handrail as the vessel capsizes, stopping them from floating and pulling the painter line to engage the hydrostatic release, thus they become ineffective.

dpb

The news programs seem suggest it was inside the boat now..!

Maybe a previous poster was correct after all and they were jettisoned when it went over

Still don't get the radio calll from them saying they were taking on water and need help.


Also if it was extremely rough at the time wouldn't they have clipped on. ?(lifelines)