Just a few thoughts on the topic: - Put in a first reef (at least) before the sun sets. - Monohull: If you're wondering if you should reef... the answer is yes. - Multihull: If you're wondering if you should reef... it's already too late. - Boom-furling (or stardard) main... Run a downhaul line to the head (top corner) of the main. Run it through a block to a winch. You don't have to bother winding it on the boom. Just get it down quickly (any point of sail) in an emergency. - Carry an appropriately sized sea anchor and/or (series) drogue. Stop or slow the boat down. Practice in light conditions. - For watch keepers: If you're nervous or unsure of anything, wake the Captain. - For owners: If you're planning a passage that you feel is above you're pay grade, hire an experienced professional and put them in complete control of your vessel. Join their crew at their discretion (try to inherit everything you can from them). - For delivery captains: Make it clear to owners that you are the sole final decision maker on the vessel. Give them permission to request you pull into the nearest safe port where they can dismiss you. * these are part of my crew briefing for every delivery over the past many decades.

I knew Carl and Anna Marie. I met both aboard their boat when they gave me a tour of their CNB as I too was considering purchasing the same boat. Carl and Anna Marie had just sailed across the Atlantic on its maiden voyage and they were very proud to show me every inch of the boat including Carls favorite tech room he created up in the bow. A sort of work bench and tool shop. He should me the in boom furling and he shared that he found it to be very difficult to manage. He said if the boom for any reason wasn’t in exactly a horizontal position the sail would rise forward or backward on the furler and get itself jammed so he rarely furled from the cockpit but instead he had a second control up at the mast so he could look up and make sure it was fueling straight. It made him nervous that someone had to go forward to the mast to be sure the furling would go smooth . He also pointed out the main sheet issue to me and said he wished that was done differently. Otherwise they were very happy with how the boat was performing and highly recommended it to me. Down below it was beautifully appointed and well laid out and Carl even opened the floor access for me so I could view the redundancy in systems and the ease of access. They were both very nice people and they loved their new life they had chosen. It was brief meeting but they were at least very happy for a time. I left with a very bad feeling about the in mast furling and the entire boom operation and I made the decision to keep my 58 Jeanneau and not go forward with the CNB. Even Carl knew that boom was an accident waiting to happen as he made it very clear to me that it worried him but he felt he had a good process for dealing with its shortfalls.

They designed this massive boat from the water up for two, why wasn't it a ketch? Shorter masts, shorter booms. In-boom would have been fine then. The other flaw was having a winch and mainsheet, for a vast rig, bang in the middle of the cockpit, half of which was a forward "lounge" instead of a safe doghouse/roof/winch/traveler. This boat was designed for wineglass sailors, not oceans.

It's always hard to see tragic accidents like this happen. Especially when they could have been so easily avoided. As a sailing instructor I teach my students to avoid heading straight downwind because it is a very unstable course and there is always a risk of an uncontrolled gybe. Particularly on such a large yacht, it is safer to sail on broad reach. The forces that build up, even when using a preventer, can hardly be controlled. I like the animations in the video. But the change in wind direction at 4:54 would not lead to an uncontrolled gybe. It only would do so if the sail had been on the opposite side.

I was so impressed with the quality of your narration that I subscribed. You speak in even, measured tones, never becoming dramatic. The explanations are detailed. The graphics are clear and helpful. Of course, I also subscribed because I love sailing.

Did an Atlantic crossing on a CNB 76 last year. Big storm, middle of the night, veering winds, big gust, autopilot failed, preventer failed, crash gybe. The blearing horn tells us "All hands on deck, emergency" as the captain makes his way makes his way to the second helm to support the mate, wind turns, the mate just screams "Duck, duck duck!!" Captn immediately dives on the deck, as the boom comes flying back to port, taking out our running backstay, with the main sheet almost decapitating our captain. Luckly no one was injured, the rigg just suffered minor damage, preventer had to be replaced and the running backstay got pulled through the winch, melting the line. Next morning we met a small sailing boat, who broke their forestay in the storm. They could not maintain speed and were afraid of starving before arriving to the Azores. We supplied them with all the food we could spare and gave them our two damaged hightech lines (Dyneema, 15x stronger then steel), which they used to secure their mast. They made it to the Azores just one day after us. CNB 76 is not a good boat to cross an ocean, at all!

One gigantic mainsail, an extra heavy boom and a long mainsheet from the cockpit: what could go wrong?

Thanks for adding the closure about what happened post rescue

The boat was too big for two people to handle and obviously too big for a minimum crew to deliver in the No. Atlantic. I really did not like the design for the mainsheet. Set up in the middle of the cockpit is fine for a race boat, but this was a cruising boat. I think the designer should have warned the owners early on that they should have had a smaller vessel designed or he should have broken up the rig to a ketch to make the sail plan more manageable.

Tragic story. If I know one thing about sailing in rough weather, it's that you do not want things flailing about. Not sails, not lines, nothing. Everything must be tight and under control. Winds can be so powerful even a small sail can become completely uncontrollable and dangerous. And this boat was designed with a huge main, a huge boom, insufficient options to keep the boom under control for a shorthanded crew, and a far too long and hard-to-control main sheet. It was an accident waiting to happen.

We met Karl and Annemari in Bermuda the week before this tragic accident. They were very sweet to us. Our condolences to their friends and families. I believe there is a very important lesson learned here: the old wisdom of “round up to reef” is often the incorrect move, especially in a wind vs. current situation they may have been experiencing in the Gulf Stream. The in-boom, in-mast, or slab reefing discussion is a moot point when the real problem was the SOP of turning upwind to reef. This is not just my opinion; I’ve discussed this with many sailors. John Harries wrote a great article about this accident and downwind reefing that is easily searchable on Google.

I cannot fathom why 'John' and 'Mike' would not want their identities known. If I was looking for a crew, they'd be at the top of the list. Excellent management of an emergency situation, from constant contact with rescue to proper first aid. Those guys rule

I had similar experience surfing down 20' waves, wind was astern 30 to 35 knots. On a 47' Boat with in mast furling as we went down the waves , boat would turn and backwind mainsail, it was held with preventer but you can't get enough angle on it to prevent it from moving back and forth. Next weather report was gale conditions in gulf stream, so I rigged storm sail and tri sail. the tri sail eliminated all of the problems with the boom which was now tied off. The tri sail can back wind to either side, with no drama. This is the problem with larger boats which I was considering. All heavy weather gear. i.e. storm sails, drogues, storm anchors, rode and bridals are massive and you can get caught out there. They where very lucky and exceptional sailors all of those years, however things can go wrong in a moment, I feel very bad this happened. Thank you for posting so we can all learn or take something from this. I

IMHO, the lesson here is that CNB 66 is too much boat for a moderately experienced cruising couple. Unfortunately this sort of thing is going to happen more and more because boats are getting bigger, faster and more complex. That couple could've easily been overwhelmed any time they went out on that thing.....the hull design is based on racing yachts crewed by 10 or more skilled sailors. Yes, the naval architect simplifies the sail plan a little bit for less crew, but it's sorta like putting a comfy seat, horn, and turn signals on a Formula 1 car and letting novices drive it on the street. An accident waiting to happen.

This is a sad story. After repeatedly re-watching the video from approximately 9.39-10.44, those seconds seem to illustrate the critical moments when everything went catastrophically south. As a retired professional sailboat captain with countless ocean crossings under sail, as well as a licensed deck officer on ships, it seems there must be critical details missing from this account. As told, there are several things that simply do not follow what would be a logical sequence of events. ln the following order: As experienced offshore sailors, why did the captain/owners feel the need to round up to reef (haul in) the roller furling jib? ln almost all cases, especially off the wind, this can be readily accomplished without dramatically changing the point of sail. Further, after deciding to do so, how could they have failed to immediately take in the mainsheet as they simultaneously eased off the preventer? Again, if this is indeed what happened, it was an uncharacteristically rookie blunder by experienced offshore sailors. That single compound failure appears to almost certainly be the primary cause of the series of events that cost captain/owner(s) their lives. Another unanswered, but almost equally critical question is what was/were the two delivery crew doing while all this was happening? lf they weren't on deck and involved in the reefing attempt, why not? Were they not called? lf they were called, but on yet on deck, why did the captain attempt to reef short handed? While the conditions were clearly difficult, the very few extra minutes required to bring additional crew on deck would have made all the difference. An alert and experienced helmsman, observing the potentially deadly, unsecured/out of control, swinging boom, with someone in or anywhere near its arc, would have known to immediately to fall off, (return to a more downwind heading) to prevent the likelihood of exactly what happened. Although there appear to have been several other serious lapses around the same time, the single act of unnecessarily rounding up, without simultaneously securing the boom is key. The rest is immaterial and makes the story unnecessarily complicated and confusing. lf this seems like an overly technical and accusatory analysis, both to those involved and Waterline Stories, there is no disrespect intended or implied to anyone involved. As usual, the USCG seems to have done an excellent job under extremely dangerous and challenging conditions. l've personally avoided catastrophe more often than l care to recall, often due mostly, if not entirely to good luck. To repeat a favorite quote that will never become obsolete: "The word 'experienced' often refers to someone who's gotten away with doing the wrong thing more frequently than you have." Laurence Gonzales, "Deep Survival"

The more I learn about sailing ,the more I think a Dinghy is the boat for me.

First time this video was posted I thought my ADHD kicked in and I didn't pay attention to how the couple died.. I even went back to the end to see what I'd missed. But the comment section was also confused. Thanks for posting again to further clarify.👍👍

Very good narration, intelligent explanation keeps it from becoming boring, congrat.

The reality is that spending a lot of money on a boat isnt always the way to go. There is a lot to be said for simpler and well proven designs.

That's why I do not like the mainsheet in the the cockpit! There was a similar incident on an X-yacht doing the ARC a few years ago when during a night shift change a crew member was knocked down by the mainsheet (connected to the traveler on the floor of the cockpit) and killed him! These in-cockpit mainsheet systems are seriously dangerous and DO NOT belong on leisure sailboats!

I always put a second reef in the main and at least one in the headsail before dark regardless of weather conditions, I also use 16mm spectra for both my main sheet and preventer, that's on an 8 metric ton steel Stadt 34' with a Selden fractional rig, I've sailed on quite a few 60+ boats, mostly racing yachts so I am only too aware of the dangers of an uncontrolled gybe. I've never been a fan of any kind of furling main, be it in mast or boom, bat cars or even just simple slides at least allows you to dump it if need be, this is a tragic accident that could have been mitigated and a lesson for all, argument perhaps for that tried and tested simple GGR style double sheet, admittedly not ideal on a 60+ dual helm boat with central main sheet winch but safe as houses. Condolences to their families😢 Downwind reefing is an essential skill but reefing early is a better and safer option, I pray to God Almighty as a single handed sailor I never have such unfortunate events occurring at sea, again Condolences to their families 😢😢😢😢

Nicely explained, diagrams etc. Clear, concise, succinct. Well done John and Mike, Things can go South very quickly. So sad, RIP Karl & Anna-Marie.

In such bad weather, undermanned, it may have been folly to try to keep sailing: they may have done much better motoring just enough to hold their direction, or if fuel did not allow this, heave-to and wait out the weather, even if that means a few more days sailing. I personally think that the ultimate problem stems from the size of the boat: it was simply too big for a crew of two in bad weather, and while they did have some help from the extra crew they picked up (which almost saved their lives, and probably saved the vessel) these were not sufficiently familiar with a nuanced vessel to be sailing in bad weather. The rig had to be big enough to drive the boat, and such a rig was not manageable without serious engineering compromises; the overly heavy boom, that weird attachment of the main-sheet in the middle of the cockpit (I've never seen one like that before and it immediately looked odd and dangerous to me, like 19th century levels of dangerous). It may be old-fashioned, but the engineering solution to the problem of too large a sail for the expected number of crew may have been to split the canvas into two more manageable pieces with a gaff rig. While this is complicated for two people to manage with the topsail, they could forgo the topsail when appropriate, at which point it is a relatively easy rig to handle (though I still think it would be too much boat for two people). At the same time it was not helpful that they were in the middle of training two crew who, although very good sailors, were not familiar with the rather nuanced vessel they were handling, in bad weather, on a long crossing, the captain without enough rest, and no one who else who knew /exactly/ how to handle the boat. They might have fared better if they delayed their passage north until the two hands were more familiar with Escape, with German commands, and with the unusual procedures. One other note, and it's just my opinion (take it or leave it, YMMV): if your boat has electric winches, but even the entire crew can't manage the rig without them, you are actually undermanned.

that Boom Design gives me nightmares. Every cell in my Sailor and fisherman genes tell me to crawl on that deck and never stand up. you never want more mass beeing able to swing over a deck especially something that will swing more wildly in bad weather. A thicker mast may take abit of wind and will not allow as big of a sail but it will also sturdy up the hull if designed right and with modern material it is not that heavy as the old wooden and steel ones. And that comes from a lad who got tangled up in a aluminium mast as a kid which was not secured to the dingys hull and went under with me in tow. luckily i grabbed the overturned dinys centerboard and held my head up enough to breath until the adult scouts saw me and managed to free my leg. Still take that over getten the boom in my head any day. I was very lucky and i know of both family friends and neighbours who has been lost at sea getting tangled in lines and dragged under or drowned while out fishing or sailing. And im from Sweden which is considered quite safe by seamanship standards. Best regards.

My blood curled while watching this story. Step by step, my heart sunk.

I knew a couple. They were lifelong friends of my parents. They always dreamed of cruising the Caribbean in retirement. They saved and planned over the years. Finally got a boat they carefully fitted it out. They at last retired and sailed to Bahama for their maiden voyage. It was to be the first of many. They arrived safe and sound. They pulled up to the dock and the wife went to secure the lines and she slipped boat and blew out her knee and so they both flew home never to sail the seas again.

Thanks for the re-upload....I watched the first video last night but will also watch this one for what happened to the couple who died and the aftermath. I enjoyed the first video so many thanks!!

A very tragic ending. It seems likely the systems designed to make a 66 footer capable of being handled by a couple might have been the reasons for their untimely deaths. Clearly the boom and mainsheet arrangements weren't satisfactory from the skipper's perspective even in moderate conditions. You need to be ahead of the weather in terms of sail strategy, it's customary to reduce sail at night for obvious reasons, but the reluctance to do so had fatal consequences. I would also say the steering positions on a CNB 66 look very exposed, it doesn't really look like the deck layout of a serious passage maker to me, even if the boat itself is more than capable of it. Very sad, and to think that a smaller more manageable boat would likely have not caused any problems.

I run a real simple preventer system on my 35 footer (similar to the IMOCA boats) off-wind of course but also when beating (acts like a kicker). I use cabin winches and clam cleats. Also I discovered something I call "reverse irons". Haul the sail whilst going downwind....The boom is something requiring constant control...IMHO.

When I was a younger sailor, I got hit by the boom while teaching. I installed a boom brake called Walder after this incident. Many accidents were avoided thereafter!

Why wouldn't a $2M boat have a traveler arch for the safety it provides?

I went for a day sail on a small sail boat on Lake Travis near Austin, Texas. It was a rental boat, nothing remarkable, not too big. I think we had 5 or 6 aboard. Weather was nice. It was a large lake, no waves, of course. But as it was a lake, the wind wasn't predictable. We were all sitting low, when suddenly the wind shifted and we jibed and the guy sitting across from me fell over unconscious. I thought the boom hit him, but it was just the sheet somehow. He was knocked out cold and took several minutes to wake up. He was still very groggy about an hour later at the hospital. I can't even imagine the forces involved in a North Atlantic gale. Note to self: If I ever buy a boat, I'll be sure to have confidence in every part and every action needed before venturing out away from shore. Heading out to sea in a boat you don't fully trust is a bad idea.

Well very sad ending to this ,,,,,, However I will add my thoughts. First and what would have saved them is KNOWING their conditions accurately. After the 1st squall was the time to REEF and STAY that way until daylight. When the CURRENT Weather forces you to reef , it's already dangerously too late. They got lucky on the first squall , and at night should have been far more cautious of it happening repeatedly. After all that the 2 mates who were unfamiliar with that vessel , and likely the owners didnt know this either ,, the CNB 66' with its "in boom" furling has no type of traditional Topping Lift. This makes one think that the Duo-Winch Main sheeting system is the only means of control. However, the Vang has a Rapid Release mechanism at the Clew end , and once released can be secured to either the Port or Starboard rigging base to relieve the " hot boom " situation. I know it's easy to say that , but not being there and actually in that situation, who knows how successful that attempted solution would be. So I suppose the primary lesson for ANYone to take from this tragic event is REEF EARLY REEF OFTEN in repeated or unknown weather and squalls. It is far easier to raise your sails than reduce your sails. In my 40+ years of sailing and watching others , all too often reefing late leads to bad endings , although rarely fatal. God Bless them for living their dreams to the fullest. Sail On Folks. SV Hydra SV Jaz Chris & Stella

We would have fitted a Boom brake so this couldn’t happen. Have used a Boom brake to a 40 footer and Dufour 56. Saved us so much from damage and danger.

Thank you for the reupload.

Just wanted to say you have an fantastic voice and presentation style

Excellent recount of events. Thank you. Those two shipmates were absolute heroes despite the tragic outcome.

The research and detail you put into these videos is brilliant. Thanks for keeping us all on the edge of our seats with these stories. From UK.

Thanks for update on what happened…..the open ocean terrifies me but I LOVE your channel ❤

This is why I have a boom brake and I'm done rigging preventers.

Have to admire John’s professionalism in trying to save the boat and the lives of its owners.

I sailed a 20 Pacific Seacraft Flicka for 4 years, taking her Los Angeles to La Paz without an engine, and cruising the Sea of Cortez for 6 months in 2012. She had a tiny mainsail. It was sheeted to the stern rail, and even in that tiny boat, the mainsheet was a serious hazard. I ended up rigging a friction based preventer/boom brake using a figure 8 rappelling device to keep the boom under control during gybes, and I use a similar system on my Catalina 30, even though it had mid-boom sheeting clear of the cockpit. It's important to reef early and often. It's also important to design your reefing system to work at any point of sail, not just upwind. I've also learned to avoid sailing dead down-wind. Study your boat's polar charts, and you'll probably find that 150 degrees off the wind is optimal for reaching your destination the quickest, Yes, you'll need to gybe if your destination is dead downwind. Gybing from a a broad reach is a lot easier and safer than gybing from a dead run, and it's more or less impossible to accidentally gybe if you're paying attention. Keep the boat under control at all times. That's the main thing. Do not test it's limits unless you are prepared for the consequences of exceeding them. This is especially true on a cruising boat and while leisure sailing. The sea will root out and severely punish any foolishness. It will do so under the worst conditions. It can and does kill anyone who ignores this fact, and even some who do everything right. RIP to these sailors. They led a good life, and died doing something they loved that was totally badass. Bravo!

Professional sailor here. Your wind angle position for the uncontrolled gybe is.. seriously wrong. The wind angle would need to be forward of the boom on the OTHER side, being the Port side on a Starboard tack (boom out on port side). Also, reefing an in BOOM furler does NOT require "tying to the boom" as you suggest. Just no. Also, 35 knots is NOT a storm force wind. It is a simple gale. A wind of that force WILL NOT generate "Eight meter waves". Just no.

Feeling like they skipped some steps. New crews (regardless of individual experience) really ought to practice maneuvers in good weather before setting out. Reef the sail. Do a hove-two. Practice a man overboard drill. Switch positions and do the drills again. It doesn't take long and you need everyone on board familiar with the vessel. Otherwise someone might not know where the jib cranks are stowed, how to turn the engine on, etc. Don't wait for the wrong moment to figure something out. Familiarize yourself with the vessel and make sure everyone else does the same.

intersting stories as always Skip. And I can see the efforts made to improve the production quality, especially the diagrams / animations to make it easier for us earthlings with no boat experience. Kudos.

I remember Riley Whitelum of La Vagabonde talking about in-boom furling recently and why he disliked it. He and Elayna encountered in-boom furling on a boat they sailed for a week or so while waiting for the new boat to be completed, and chose to not have it on their new boat.

This new ‘era’ hooked me up with your channel once again. Curious and excited to see the build. About the solar capacity: do take into account that on higher latitudes, the sun isn’t that high in the sky. On the other hand, when you are there on the right time, the days last long….

the "uncontrolled jibe" animation ist wrong, the wind would need to turn exactly to the opposite site for the boom to swing around.

Handling a sailing vessel is no easy task. I used to go sailing in a recreational catamaran with a couple of friends in my youth. I honestly can't imagine how difficult it must have been for the crew in such terrible weather conditions. I feel that the yacht was simply too big to be handled by just two people. Poor crew and resource management just added to the already stressful situation that no one onboard was expecting nor prepared for. The North Atlantic ocean is not a good place to start learning the ropes. I feel this was a preventable accident. RIP to the husband and wife.

their mistake was sailing to nova scotia from bermuda; a fundamental lack of sanity.

The graphic does not properly describe the type of wind shift that would cause an uncontrolled gybe…

All sailing activities offshore (80 to 300 miles off the northeast US coast in the month of June is extremely treacherous and dangerous. This despite when most think its safe as spring has come and June brings traditional Summer weather to the coastal areas of the US coast. However winter storms are still coming through from west to east before "summer "actually arrives marked by the famous Bermuda High pressure setting up over Bermuda. Typically this high pressure dominates once established and provides the area with fair weather for the true summer months being July, August ans September The month of June are always sketchy and dangerous to mariners ....particularly because new areas of convection are setting up temporarily all around and can cause catastrophic Beaufort 5 plus wind velocity and wave spectra storms to occur exactly with little or no notice. This mainly where the Labrador currents and the Gulf Stream currents both meet and converge offshore of Novi Scotia in June. The new salty buoyant gulf stream current/water is getting wider , its warmer and its pushing stronger further east and north into and under the cold Labrador current charging down from the north and in from the east. Its less salty and extremely dense water. The convergence of these to currents can be a wind and weather generator to those unfamiliar with such local phenomena. Anyway beware and stay cl;ear of the area until July would be my advise.

Rest in peace to both your souls. Truly tragic...

The *Boom of Death* is unfortunately a thing which happens too often. I had been hit by a boom an a small yacht (L23) too. I was lucky it was only a superficial scratch, but it hurts.

I find this heartbreaking and so flawed were their action that it disgusts me! Almost all long distance cruisers, with solo or dual crews are either ketches or yawls for a reason. This yacht was mighty, but severely overpowered from he start, but that is really not the issue. If you are overpowered you drop the sails and/or cut them free. In the open ocean, away from land, sitting, battened down under bare poles, streaming a sea anchor is as safe as it gets, so why did they not do this. And as for running downwind, with a restraining strap on the boom with a view to stop a gybe appears almost suicidal. If you can't control the beam, then the boat will stay broached in the trough of the waves. Uncomfortable if not positively dangerous. I have sailed in everything that the North Sea can throw at you, in dinghies, racing yacht and cruisers, and the secret to safety lies in planning and preparation! ...and what the hell were those experienced crewmen doing? Its enough to make you cry, seeing now needless this tragedy was!

I appreciate the clarification!

I had a 12 m sailboat and as a SECURITY MEASURE, NEVER, NEVER sailed her straight down wind, I always sailed broad reach. The bigger the boat, the bigger the danger and damage in case of sudden wind shift. One can break the boat's shrouds and mast if the boom swing violently from one side to the other. This is poos seamanship (and boat design).

Ahh I was wondering how they died, I mean it was pretty obvious they died of their injuries, but the previous version did feel a bit open ended. Just wondering if you'd ever do a Q&A type video? I'm not usually interested in that type of thing, but I'd love to know were you're from, I can't place the accent although it sounds South African or somewhere else in Africa, but I also remember you said in 1 of your videos that you had lived in England. It would be interesting to hear about your career too.

That boat was much too big for two novices. They bit off more than they could chew. Plenty of Bluewater capable yachts in the 40-50' range. They didn't need a 67' boat for just two people.

In mast furling DOES require upwind to furl

R.I.P. the story make my sad 😢 Thanks for sharing so other, like myself, can learn for this.. With a 68ft flagship and only 2 person on board it's so important.

Dragging innocent rescuers due to negligence is just irresponsible and dangerous..

I used to sail, having learned in a 20' gaff rigged timber hulled whaler. I got boom bashed and thrown overboard. Thankfully it was in enclosed waters. I continued to sail, with that in mind. The sea is a fickle thing, calm and serene then horrifying. I have since gone to sea and crossed oceans in all seastates, in multi screwed, steam turbine, steel hulled ships; it was no less dangerous. The sea doesn't care. Experience in those seastates does. Taking an inexperienced crew on such a voyage is just asking for trouble. The crew were lucky....... Or were they? Fair winds and following seas, Karl and Annemarie.

Because someone asked, I will state what I consider a cutter rig to be. A cutter must have at least two headsail (often called jibs). But that is not enough. There are plenty of double headsail sloops. To be a cutter, the vessel must have its mast stepped further aft than a sloop, often near the mid-length of the deck, or near that. The vessel in this story was set up as a masthead, racing sloop. This required not only a relatively large mainsail (roughly 40 to 45% of the total sail area) but also a very tall one. The problems with this are two: 1.) The sail has to be shortened down by quite a distance to significantly reduce its area. 2.) The square footage of sail per length of boom is much greater. This, on top of the lesser inertia of the boom, means it can swing at great speed. A longer boom, although heavier, has much greater inertia for its weight, so would accelerate slower For a boat, this size and an amateur crew this small, this boat was an accident waiting to happen. Also, while sailing downwind on an open ocean, with this small of a crew, the mainsail should have been furled, with any hint of coming strong winds.

Sad stories it thank you to take the time to tell it. I saw the boat after the tragedy while it was in Maine. There is much to reflect on.

Great story teller and great stories he tells. Thanks for enlightning us to the true, even though sad, ending.😉😉😉

I read the title, clicked play... and still thought they'd survive. That was a heroic effort by "John" and "Mike". I hope they know that they did everything humanly possible to save them.

Just discovered this upload.... again? Watched it yesterday but now I'm hoping we get some info about the owners fate.

Usually its something like "this ship, this captain, this oil rig..." But this time its something so small as one rope! God i love these videos. Such an insight into the manifestations of entropy and how they can affect us.

A very sad story, condolences to all who knew them. There are many issues here, though a more experienced skipper and better prepared crew would almost certainly have been safe. The most glaring issue is obviously the mainsheet, which appears to have only a single loop, an inverted "gun tackle" (5:28), unlike the different boat's setup at 10:27 . It was not strong enough to prevent it from breaking ( 11:20 ) in a series of uncontrolled gybes. I see no cleat, only the self-tailing electric winch at 5:28 . A second issue is that they did not have accurate detailed knowledge of the weather, and did not reef in time. Of course there are all the issues mentioned by the narrator and by commenters here, but the two above are the ones which struck me immediately while watching the video. I'm amazed that the boat did not get dismasted with that massive boom swinging freely about, but the crew did manage to secure the boom before abandoning ship. There are more detailed accounts of this tragedy on the Internet, findable via a search engine. This kind of boat is probably fast enough to avoid bad weather if the navigator has a detailed weather forecast. There's a many-decades-old debate among cruisers: slow heavy bullet-proof boat to survive the weather, or fast light boat/multi-hull to escape the weather. In any case, it was perfectly capable of taking the weather it ran into, but the crew were not. One could say "skipper" rather than crew, but perhaps all sailors need to take a few lessons from aircraft pilots regarding Crew Resource Management. The traditional autocratic-subservient skipper-crew relationship needs modification. This is a concept which has only been properly developed over the last thirty to forty years, after a series of airline disasters, and has significantly helped to make flying much safer than it was. CRM is an integral part of flight training today, and should be part of sail training too. One idea: perhaps this kind of mainsheet system should have an automatic, fast slack take-up, so that there is always some tension applied to the mainsheet. This would prevent a loose mainsheet from sweeping over the deck (and/or cockpit). It would also act as a boom brake. That would require a special kind of controlled pawl (ratchet) winch, engaging and disengaging the ratchet as needed. For such mechanised, electrified boats, that should not be impossible to manufacture. But in my opinion, all such complexity is getting away from the intent of sailing, especially when I think of all those who have circumnavigated in small boats with no mechanised assistance other than perhaps an auxiliary motor and electronic aids.

Hi... Thanks for documenting this tragic event. It's so sad it cost lives. For me, apart from comments made about skipper's decisions, it highlights the danger of running a preventer as opposed to a boom brake. A boom brake would have made the movement of the boom way more controlable, and would not have needed to be eased off when rounding up. All in all, the violent moment of the boom would have been significantly reduced. After that... Yes, I agree with some that the skipper's decisions to allocate the toughest jobs to only him was a mistake. Sadly, Annabelle should not have been allowed to be happy with the "relaxing zone" (2:13). It ended up with her getting thrashed by the mainsheet. All crew should be capable with boat handling.

The boom vang does normally help to reduce the violent boom uncontrole movement, and some very efficient boom reterner, are designed for big boat like this , not just " ropes " ..surprised that this beautiful boat was not equipped with a better boom retener system

Nicely done.

They were very inexperienced. Why would you ever bring the boom aboard…close reach square up boom with spar so furling works all while preventer and sheet stabilize the boom….tragic example of what is happening in the “cruiser world” I hope people and boat builders advertising boats “easily handled by a couple”learn from this tragic avoidable incident. My condolences go to family and all involved.

As usual an excellent summary of the events with no frills; no sensationalism. Then again it is quite surprising the skipper didn't tell an experienced crew members the idiosyncrasies of the boat. Any new crew member must be given the full picture of the boat, even if the rigging and operational mode is traditional : each skipper has his / her preferences and ways of doing things (I have mine) and everybody must adjust to them : reefing at night in heavy weather is not the moment when you should figure out where is posted the main halyard, how a preventer etc… This is why spending half a day sailing close to shore for a shakedown and adjustments with new crew members is essential. You sail back to port for dinner, have a good night sleep and leave the other days when tide; currents and wind allow. Simple? Yes but barely done except in sailing schools and who wants to be considered as a student or see one's own pride and joy taken for a sailing school vessel? Nonetheless it seems to me this disaster could have been avoided altogether. Then again, let's respect the victims and hope viewers will lear a lesson from this sad story. This story calls also for another remark. Why choose a 20m boat to sail as a couple? A 13-15meter boat is more manageable and the forces involved are easier to handle… And again a huge mainsail to handle with a huge boom on a 20 m boat would simply scare me stiff if I had to handle the boat alone or almost. A divided sailing plan would have been much easier to handle than those monster spars which can be properly handled by a numerous crew…

Instead of doing 2 masts with lazy jack manufactures do Bermuda sails with electric control for blue water yachts. Perfect!

So sad that a lot of this could’ve been avoided with simple communication. Rest in Paradise.

So very sad and very tragic. The pain of crew members horrific. ❤🙏

There’s no wind in the trough of a 20+ ft/ 6meter swell. The boom can swing. Especially if reefed…if it’s already heavy. This is why a 3 point block system on a main boom is super important. The main boom cannot jibe

The weather didn't kill them, lack of training did..

❤ well researched and put together. It appears its always a series of mistakes that add up. Rip

This is almost a carbon copy of the Platino loss. A large pleasure sailing craft with minimal crew, caught out by a combination of conditions and heavy equipment. In both cases, uncontrolled gybes that destroyed control lines and left a massive boom clearing the deck. It makes sobering reading and caused us, coastal sailors on a 10m keeler, to review our equipment practises and training. The Platino report is available on line and I strongly recommend reading it in full.

Great channel! Narrators voice is uhhh VERRRY NICE!

As a Scotian i always find it so funny when our lil province winds up in random KZfaq videos im watching lol

You can tell how experienced the other guys were with their decision to sail away from land in an extreme emergency. I'm not an experienced sailor, but it sounds like these 2 highly experienced sailors were the only reason the boat didn't sink. It is too bad that the boat's captain did not give these 2 more training on the unique features of the boat. I'm ballparking it here, but from the description of events it sounds like Karl was running a 24+ hour day with no sleep. It gets harder and harder to not make mistakes with each passing hour in a situation like that. The other part of the accident in my opinion was trying to build too large of a sailing yacht that could still be manually controlled like that.

Sounds more like an under skilled crew in an oversized boat. Money can buy many things but experience and knowledge can't be bought. I watched a+50' boat spend 30 minutes trying to side tie on a 200' dock in a light crosswind. It was embarrassing to watch. That couple should have been in a mid 20's day sailor learning to handle a boat

Bad design for a short handed blue water yacht. Its better to sacrifice some performance and have a divided sail plan, a ketch or a schooner.

"Experienced sailor” is a euphemism used to hide one's own insecurity within the over-identification of a symbolized identity. No one wants to lose face and so there is a procrastination within the loyalty of an overtired skipper.

Sad story, awesome work by the 2 crew. The power of loaded up sheets is hard to imagine, reef early. Respect the comment to have a separate line to the head of the main to be able to crank it down in anything. I am adding this today. As a ma and pa cat couple we hate the main, have removed the first reef altogether and rely on our 2 furling headsails for any downwind work. And, of course, the 2 Yanmar sails.

So, it looks as if the primary cause of the uncontrolled jibe was that the preventer had been eased off (or completely released), at the worst possible time?

Great job. there was a couple of articles about this story. The articles were very well written and also explain the volunteer crew was late to notify of the squwal. If the volunteer crew would have been quicker to wake up the Capt this story could have turned out much different.

When you reduce the mainsail at sea, the best is to sheet in the jib as much as you can and to sail close-hauled as to have the boat to lean on it's gib and thus stabilized. Not doing that is very dangerous as nothing is more instable at sea than a sailboat in rough seas with its sails not catching any wind.

Sorry but experienced sailors would have resorted to dropping main in much less conditions. AND the Skipper should never allow a single person to deal with 2 high loaded lines in 20kts of wind, even less so in 6m seas. Spending $2M on a yacht today and you don’t have reversing winches for main sheet and preventer? Maybe $20k extra for absolute control rather than manual release, possible to even remote operate. Downwind sailing in the dark is dangerous with out big seas, the boat has 2 forestays, frigging designer should have included 2 genoa’s ( on the 2 electric furlers)with a dip pole capable of 3rd reef poling the lee sail in full downwind condition, NO main sail at night in those conditions. Or simply 2 storm jibs with engine running at maybe 1200RPM for emergency correction with rogue wave, remember they sailing downwind 6m seas, can easily push stern of boat so be prepared. Auto pilot but hand on wheel ready and close to AP control. Keeping a vessel straight downwind in such conditions is not easy in dark so AP is on high performance mode. Hey, if you don’t feel comfortable, spin boat and go upwind close haul until conditions improve with reefed sails ensuring boat is weather helm. Sad ending, please never risk night sailing with too much sail, big waves and limited experience, boat without sail will go down wind, you need to control action waves and main on the stern of boat, can’t afford boat spinning, could even role with those waves.

Furler booms are a nightmare in seas over 2mtrs. Always reef before it's too late. Mainsheet set up like this is lethal. Very sad story.

I’ve been Sailing for 53 years and the idea that a couple can handle a 66 footer By them self is ludicrous. I don’t care how strong you are how wise you are, how experienced you are .

Very informative video

In mast furling isn't that great a solution, the heavier mast aside. For sailing performance, the lack of horizontal battens mean you don't have as good a sail shape. More importantly, if the weather turns against you and the sail jams in the mast as you try to reef, you can't drop it. Your only option is to wrap halyards around the sail to try to tie it to the mast. Not an easy thing to do when it's blowing and the yacht's pitching. For sailing in the Ionian, you do find yourself getting the sail in and out more readily.

Can't add much to this except to observe that storm sails in heavy weather made my yachts easier to handle, really stable and didn't reduce speed by that much in terms of getting to a safe area. And I have depowered boats single handing when the main gets stuck by dropping the jib or genoa or furling them. Often then continue with the main if the weather is easing.

I've crewed for a millionaire on a catamaran Yacht, He used to own a fishing boat, he was big-time into sea fishing, we used to hang around rocks at sea, happily casting his bait, as I thought about all scenarios, of me getting home to my loved ones, Mind you I did see my First Basking Shark, It was longer than the Catamaran,

I remember taking my daughter for a sail on a small hire catamaran when she was little, and I warned her about the danger of jibes (and showed her what they look like). I wonder if the design of the booms/sails where brought into question as a result of this tragedy.