# Hello all, I'm a new user but an old sailor



## SailAlfin (Dec 24, 2008)

Hi, friends call me Kiko. I have been designing, developing, manufacturing, testing and using boats for 51 years. In addition, I have been sailing for 73 years.
My work in the marine industry included draftsman at one boat company, chief engineer at another, and finally vice president of operations at a third. I started my own design and development company, Marine Concepts, in 1975 here in Florida, and my resume also includes ten years of writing accident reports and doing investigations for the U.S. Coast Guard.
I sail a Brewer 44 and my family and I do long-range cruising.
I will enjoy engaging in discussions on Sailnet forums. 
Augusto (Kiko) Villalon


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## PCP (Dec 1, 2004)

That is an impressive curriculum. Be more than welcome.

Paulo


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## jimgo (Sep 12, 2011)

Welcome! It's interesting that your "join date" is 2008, but that this is your first post! Anyway, looking forward to your contributions to the site.


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## SailAlfin (Dec 24, 2008)

jimgo said:


> Welcome! It's interesting that your "join date" is 2008, but that this is your first post! Anyway, looking forward to your contributions to the site.


Yes, I have not posted or used it much. Back in 2008 when I joined I was Leader on the investigation of the Cynthia Woods loss of her keel on the Galveston-Verazruz race. Everyone on the forums was against the designer and the manufacturer but my investigations showed different and I was been pummeled bad, so I pulled back from divulging info until I finished. I am back and due to my upcoming 83 years I believe it is time for an old sailor to switch to a trawler of some kind and continue the love-affair with the sea.


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## PCP (Dec 1, 2004)

SailAlfin said:


> Yes, I have not posted or used it much. Back in 2008 when I joined I was Leader on the investigation of the Cynthia Woods loss of her keel on the Galveston-Verazruz race. Everyone on the forums was against the designer and the manufacturer but my investigations showed different and I was been pummeled bad, so I pulled back from divulging info until I finished. I am back and due to my upcoming 83 years I believe it is time for an old sailor to switch to a trawler of some kind and continue the love-affair with the sea.


Can you get a link to those investigations? It seems very interesting.

Regarding the trawler today you can have lots of sailing boats that work with buttons. Since old people are a very big part of the market (they are the ones with money) cruising boat design have come a long way in what regards easiness.

I have + 80 year old Italian friends that cruise on an modern Halberg Rassy. Meet them last year in Croatia, this year way down in Greece (Jakintos) and they have plans for next year to sail the Cyclades. Since they come from near Trieste, that's a lot of sailing.

Don't give up, just find an easier boat to sail, one where you don't need to do any considerable efforts. There are many on the market.

Regards

Paulo


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

Kiko,

Welcome aboard. Its wonderful to see you here again, even if your post includes the news that you are thinking of selling your lovely yacht.

As you well know, Paulo is right that there has been huge progress made in automating yachts of all sizes, and certainly _Alfin_ has some labor savers already but only you know what will be the right choice for you.

Jeff Halpern


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

Paulo, 

I was not able to quickly find the Cynthia Woods discussions, but from memory (and Kiko can certainly correct me if I have this wrong) the published investigation concluded that the Cynthia Woods, while somewhat close to the then current design recommendations, was none the less constructed within the puiblished standards which would apply. 

The report concluded that the damage to the keel from the earlier grounding was:
- more extensive than understood by the people performing the repairs, 
-that there should have been more comprehensive professional assistance in evaluating and repairing the damage, 
-that the damage was probably made worse by the boat being in a slip which was too shallow resulting in multiple daily groundings with the tide, and 
-that the actual mode of failure was a separating of the hull laminate in the keel area of the boat, which initiated with delaminating of the skin below the transverse frames and spread out into the hull. 

There are important lessons in the Cynthia Woods tragedy regarding how high impact grounds should be evaluated and repaired that make Kiko's company's findings very helpful reading for anyone who owns a boat or who is charged with evaluating and repairing grounding damage. 

My take away was that the visible damage was only the tip of the problem. My sense is that while ultimate failure mode would have been hard to detect without taking off the keel, and may have been nearly impossible to detect with an encapsulated keel, safety demands that a full and proper investigation take place after any hard grounding. 

Jeff


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## SailAlfin (Dec 24, 2008)

Hello Jeff, I was about to write you. More on that later, but your reply to Paulo was very good, you have a good memory. The larger issue that you refer to is the need for professionalism. The signs of heavy damage were there, you do not "bust" four floors (Transvers) and think that nothing else is damaged. Some of the points in my report dealing with the manner in which energy traveled from the leadgin point of the keel up to the transfers floors and out to the hull side, with a crack there that then followed a line to the port chain plate is so "classic" that the University manager of the marine group should have seen the writing in the wall. A racing boat cannot be kept in the water as they did, etc. Anyway, hope all is well with you and that you had a good sailing summer best regards to both of you. Kiko


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## rgscpat (Aug 1, 2010)

Welcome!


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## SailAlfin (Dec 24, 2008)

Thank you all for welcoming me for a second time on the forum. Some have asked for information on the Cynthia Woods investigation. There are two reports: mina and the Tx A & M expert who wrote their report. I believe that these can be downloaded from the cloud. I'll try to find these and report. I am now preparing my presentation to the ICOMIA symposium at eh METS show in Amsterdam next month, so it may take me some time. I hope to keep up with this forum since I consider it the best of SailNate and think you guys are lucky to have such a good moderator.


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