VIEW FROM THE HELM PHOTOS: LESTER M LESTER PHOTOS: Robert Holbrook: the man who made c the crash test SNOOK GRAHAM CARTHY, project possible The Crash Test team (left to right): RYA cruising manager Stuart Carruthers, YM’s Kieran Flatt and Andrew Brook, and skipper Chris Beeson Meet the wrecking crew eet Robert Holbrook, the man who Having passed his own Yachtmaster exam, Des bought a yacht worth £35,000 and thought of the practical skills he hadn’t been handed her over to our newly tested on – exercises deemed too risky, or launched Crash Test Boat team. expensive to manage. Over the coming months, we will Bill Anderson, then RYA cruising secretary Mbe giving her a starring role in a series of and now YM’s monthly columnist for ‘controlled’ sailing disasters, which include a ‘A Question of Seamanship’, was an observer of dismasting, a capsize, a hole the tests and recalls how below the waterline, fire in the readers were ‘dumped’ off engine room and, finally, a gas ‘She will play a the Devon coast in mastless leak and explosion. 26ft Soling keelboats with As managing director of starring role in a an assortment of ill-fitting Admiral Boat Insurance, spars and sails and told to Paul Gelder, editor Robert has seen all sorts of series of ‘controlled’ improvise jury rigs. yachting disasters – from UK For our Crash Test Boat coastal dramas to mid-ocean sailing disasters’ project, we have the support calamities – and he has paid of the RYA, the RNLI, out thousands of pounds to compensate Osmotech UK (to repair the damage), Ocean insurance clients who have fallen victim to the Safety, Marina Developments Ltd and others. unexpected or the unavoidable. A keen cruising We hope the series will provide an and racing yachtsman, Robert believes our understanding of how accidents happen and Crash Test Boat series will help promote safety how to avoid them. and good seamanship – and, perhaps, avoid Find out more about our some of those insurance claims! As he says: Crash Test Boat project on ‘Why not learn from our mistakes so you can p88 and meet the boat Yachting Monthly avoid making your own?’ herself on p92. is now available on Some 40 years ago, YM’s then editor, Des your iPad or PC. Sleightholme, launched a series of Don’t miss the next issue, on sale 5 May. We run Subscribe to our digital ‘troubleshooter’ articles, which were a prototype the Crash Boat aground, compare furlers and edition at www.zinio.com for the RYA Yachtmaster practical courses. snuffers, find secret anchorages and much more MAY 2011 www.yachtingmonthly.com 3 A photo taken from a liferaft by a solo skipper Aground! Someone’s pride and joy washed up at Thorpe Bay, near Southend, Essex A fire aboard can quickly become lethal Hull damage can follow a dismasting NEW SERIES STARTS NEXT MONTH HOW TO DEAL WITH DISASTERSM A Worse things happen at sea, they say. Good seamanship relies on many skills – not least IN ‘Why I bought a in a series of articles, I could see Marina, which has an unrivalled photo CARTHY how yachtsmen could learn reputation for repairing damaged c navigation, boat handling, an understanding of the weather and the ability to deal with J : BOAT TO WREck’ much invaluable information. yachts. A couple of weeks later, OH emergencies. Our new Crash Test Boat project aims to help you stay safe First, we needed a suitable Jim Hirst from Osmotech told me W N Robert Holbrook, founder and managing 35-45ft monohull as a test boat. about a 1982 Jeanneau Sun Fizz HEELER director of Admiral Boat Insurance, explains We also needed some project ketch, which was for sale and PHOTO: LESTER M LESTER PHOTO: hat’s your worse, a 360-degree rollover. make a jury rig to sail to safety? you know which works best – his motivation behind the test series partners who could add in-depth fitted the bill perfectly. Admiral /A worst sailing In the 1979 Fastnet Race, sailors Could you cope effectively or works at all? When it comes knowledge and experience – bought Fizzical in November 2010 lamy . nightmare? abandoned perfectly seaworthy with a galley or engine fire? down to it, there is no substitute I was introduced to the concept experiments, the Yachting and share costs! I approached and the project was born. A B O Sinking or yachts, taking to their liferafts There is plenty of first-hand for experience. of the Crash Test Boat by Monthly crew plan to put theory Osmotech UK, at Hamble Point Everyone we have spoken V E : PPL : capsize? Have you for fear of being injured as loose testimony from yachtsmen who Our Crash Test Boat will be Yachting Monthly editor Paul to the test by re-enacting some M LESTER PHOTO: to has seemed equally excited everW run aground on a lee shore? objects down below became have survived these alarming used to test our theories – as Gelder and his team at last typical worst-case scenario about the concept of Yachting Yachting Monthly has acquired deadly missiles in capsizes. scenarios. But nobody has well as yours. We want to hear year’s Southampton Boat Show. sailing accidents or emergencies Monthly’s Crash Test Boat series. a second-hand 40ft Jeanneau If your yacht was holed in a methodically tested what your stories and solutions. We’ll My enthusiasm grew as I realised – such as grounding, capsize and MDL has generously given us free Sun Fizz 40 ketch, which we collision, how easily could you happens in controlled and put them to the test. The aim this project could be a real mast failure. Risk assessment and berthing and lift-outs at Hamble c will be using over the coming stop the flood of water? Would monitored conditions. is to give you the best possible benefit to yachtsmen. Often, careful consultation with experts CARTHY Point Marina and the RNLI and months to challenge received your bilge pumps cope? There will be no shortage of tools to avoid and troubleshoot the first natural human instinct will be at the core of all tests. RYA have also lent their support. wisdom regarding major disaster In the event of a dismasting, ideas from fellow yachtsmen crises afloat and, if you can’t, the when an emergency or disaster How often are incidents like incidents on board. how would you cut away the rig on the right way to tackle a confidence to use methods that strikes is panic. this photographed and filmed in Meet the team, more Every yachtsman fears a before it punched a hole in the whole range of problems. But you know have been tried and In a series of controlled detail? By sharing their findings Crash Test Boat – a 40ft ketch about the project knockdown in heavy weather or, side of the hull? How would you without trying them, how do ‘Crash Boat tested’. 88 www.yachtingmonthly.com MAY 2011 MAY 20119 www.yachtingmonthly.com 89 Stuart Carruthers, Our 2011 programme of the RYA’s cruising manager, attempts to push a saibag of controlled sailing disasters fenders under the hull Over the next 10 months we will be subjecting our Crash Test Boat to a to protect the topsides punishing programme of destructive experiments – putting to the test the recommended methods for getting out of trouble after enacting a series of real-life ‘controlled’ yachting disasters. Here’s what we’ll be looking at over the next few months Dismasting and you’ve got a big problem. After breaking our mast under sail, We’ll find out how long it takes we’ll test methods of getting rid of to locate the hole and which the broken spar before it threatens emergency fixes work best. Plus to puncture the hull, then make a tips on helpful modifications. We will capsize our test boat to test safety and security in a rollover jury rig with what’s left. We’ll also list essential rig checks to keep Capsize Steering failure Gas explosion your rig safe. Yes, it’s rare, but all it takes is the We’ll be looking at what happens When did you last inspect your right wave. We’ll be capsizing the when the steering cables of a gas pipes and hoses? We’ll find Through-hull trouble Crash Test Boat twice to test a wheel-steered boat snap or slip off out how much gas makes how big Something heavy shifts in an variety of devices that will reveal the quadrant and exploring what a bang and exactly what it can do overstuffed locker and a seacock whether the cabin can be made you need to do. There will also be to you and your boat. We’ll also snaps off, or the engine coupling safe or is a hell-hole in the unlikely advice on tuning and maintaining be testing a range of devices and fails and the prop shaft drops event of a capsize or knockdown. your steering system. step-by-step safety procedures. out... We’ll test old ideas and new Hard kit to find out how to stop a boat Galley and engine fires sinking. There will also be some We’ll test a variety of measures WE WANT YOUR IDEAS FLATT maintenance tips to help you spot aimed at making sure you can N signs of imminent failure. extinguish a fire before you have Have you experienced any of these incidents or know anyone ERA I to abandon ship. We will also look who has? How did it happen? What did you do? Do you have a aground! Holed below at the most common causes of plan for one of the emergencies above you’d like us to test? the waterline fire on board and examine the Email [email protected] There’s a thud and the boat steps you can take to prevent fire or write to: Yachting Monthly Crash Boat Test, IPC Media, groans before sailing on.