# 62 Year old rescued after 16 hours when Boat Flips off Portugal. Loss of keel



## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

A member posted about this incident and about the loss of keel. We reviewed the post and have replaced the post with this one as new facts have emerged.

Stories: 
Sailor survives 16 hours under capsized boat in Atlantic (nypost.com) 
French man, 62, survives 16 hours in capsized boat in Atlantic Ocean before rescue 'verging on the impossible' | World News | Sky News

Note lack of keel, note apparent lack of propeller. Solo sailor. See notes below.



























































Note: This is not a bolt on keel










No propeller there. Its difficult to see, easier in the bigger photo but the black background of the wetsuit makes it arguable.

@Jeff_H is currently on the road and can't reply himself. He says:
*"that appears to be a Class 40 race boat. Since the photo shows the profile of the keel, that is either a canting keel or a cassette keel. Neither keel type bears any relationship to a production boat with a bolt on keel.
For example, some cassette keels can be jettisoned rather than have the whole boat sink."*

The boat left Lisbon, Portugal, heading North, and flipped near Sisargas Islands in Northern Spain close to the coast and near A Coruna. Thats near that far north western corner of Spain. Its a wind compression zone in any Northely or Easterly as wind tries to get out of the Bay Of Biscay.
Here it is at the moment and the black ring in the area of the capsize.









I was 200 nms west of that point last year and it was still severely affecting my weather.
In the last few days I have been watching the weather a bit further south from Gibraltar to the Canaries for a friend doing that passage and theres been a hell of a Northerly, so I guess that was even hellier up the top of Spain.



Mark


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## colemj (Jul 10, 2003)

I clearly see a 2-blade Flex-O-Fold prop, so that isn’t missing.

Mark

edit: could be a Gori racing pro


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

I will start by saying that all too often the sailing community at large tends to react to these disasters before the full information has been gathered. Often this premature speculation is based on incomplete information and therefore gets it very wrong. I am sure a whole lot more will be learned once the boat is recovered and the skipper interviewed. For now, the good news is that the skipper and his rescuers got through this safely.

I do want to comment on the Mark's quote from my earlier message to him on this story. Since I wrote that quoted item this morning, I was able to confirm that the boat in question is a Class 40. Class 40's do not have canting keels. But very often they do have cassette type (sometimes referred to a bayonet type attachment,) Judging from these photos, (which are clearer than the ones I saw this morning) that appears to be a cassette type keel attachment.

The post that was removed this morning referred to this as another bolt-on keel failure. From the images, it clearly is not a bolt-on keel. Structurally, cassette keels are very different than a bolt on keel. A cassette type keel attachment has a socket that is molded with the hull similar to a sump on an encapsulated keel, only extending upward into the hull. That socket then has sturdy framing that distributes the loads fore and aft, and transversely.

The top of the keel then has a reinforced top section that fits tightly into that socket. Because of the tight fit and the large surface area of the keel top and socket, the loads from a small footprint, high aspect keel are distributed over a larger area than would be possible with either a bolt on keel or an encapsulated keel. The only bolts used with a cassette style keel hold the keel in the cassette. Those bolts are dealing with very small loads compared to those that are imparted between the keel top and the cassette.

But these types (cassette and canting) of keel attachments are almost exclusively used on custom or limited production offshore race boats. They in no way relate to the methods employed to attach bolt-on keels on production boats which generally have much larger keel root footprints and the ability to spread the bolting over a larger area of the hull or keel sump.

While this is somewhat off-topic to the disaster in question, there is often a debate about bolt-on vs encapsulated keels whenever a disaster occurs. In recent years there has been a lot of research into instances where keels have been lost. At this point the research has produced only preliminary conclusions, but they are very different than might otherwise be assumed.

First of all, it is quite rare for a boat to lose its keel no matter what type it is. 

But in the majority of cases, the boats in question have been leading edge one off or limited production race boat designs, and in recent years, among that group, keel attachment failures have predominantly been boats with canting keels.

If custom high performance, limited number race boats are removed from the discussion, the known keel failures have been nearly evenly split between bolt-on keels and encapsulated keels. In the case of the bolt-on keel failures, the vast majority have not actually involved the bolts themselves. Instead the failures have occurred in the laminate surrounding the area of the keel attachment. That failure of the laminate has generally resulted from some mix of hard grounding damage to the internal framing and bonding failures between the framing and hull.

Similarly, the failure mode on encapsulated keels occurs due to a failure of the laminate, mostly in the area where the keel encapsulation turns down out of the hull. While this form of failure can occur from a hard grounding, it can also be the result of fatigue in this area of the hull to keel. Encapsulated keels are much more prone to fatigue because, unlike bolt-on keels, they typically lack internal framing to resist flexure. It is that flexure that accelerates the weakening of the hull due to fatigue. 

As far as the 'missing prop', I cannot say for certain whether or not it is present, but Class 40's use folding or feathering props and it is entirely possible that we can't see the prop blades from the angles at which the pictures were taken.

Back to the program in progress.

Jeff


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

Thanks Jeff. Yes agreed with you and @colemj that is not gunna be a fixed prop on a racing boat LOL

Its quite surprising the number of these type boats in the atlantic marinas and yes, we've seen them go out of Cherbourg solo. To be going upwind in one in 30 or 40 knots solo I really do wonder how it goes.

Thanks for your thoughts  

Mark


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

The boat in question turns out to be a Class 40 built by Cape Racing Yachts. Here is the press release on their Facebook page.

*Cape Racing Yachts*
On Monday evening at approximately 20h20 European time, Laurent Camprubi was sailing solo on our Cape 40 V2, #179, Jeanne off the coast off Portugal doing his 1,000nm Route du Rhum qualification. He triggered his emergency beacon after loosing the keel and capsizing. We are extremely relieved that Laurent was rescued by the maritime safety authorities and has been returned to shore.
The yacht is being towed to shore and we expect it to arrive sometime today. We are currently working with the yacht's team to establish what happened. More will follow.

EDIT: As an additional note, the boat has arrived in port and there are pictures of it inverted in a slip. One of the interesting aspects of this story is that the boat has remained afloat and that it held trapped air for this long. While it is buoyed with inflatable floats, the skipper survived in an air pocket that did not bleed out through hull openings,. That adds to the mystery since you would expect the air to have exited through any bolt holes or thru-hulls (i.e. sink drain) 

Jeff


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

So here is a bit more information: From the Spanish newspaper La Voz de Galicia. El náufrago de las Sisargas: «Al ver cómo quedó el barco no entiendo cómo sobreviví» (The article is in Spanish. I used Google's translator. In the article, I don't think that they are using the term 'dagger board;' the same way its used in the US, but they may be. Also. I did not add the bold faced type.) )

"The sailor said he was shocked when he realized the extent of the damage to his boat — a shattered mast, destroyed boom, keel and most equipment gone.

“I couldn’t understand how was I able to survive,” said Camprubi, of Marseille, “The conditions were very adverse.”

Camprubi set sail in his 40-foot vessel on Sunday from the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, according to Reuters. He was participating in a qualifying race for the upcoming transatlantic solo sailing contest Route du Rhum, which takes place every four years.

He had arrived Monday in Fisterra in western Spain, where he encountered strong winds and three-meter waves, and soon realized his boat had lost its keel, a beam that runs down the middle of the boat, he said in the interview with La Voz de Galicia.

“I was trying to pull the main sail when the boat started to tilt,” he told the newspaper. “So without giving it much thought, I went inside, and in 15 seconds, the boat had capsized.”

Calmer and after being able to sleep "some", Laurent Camprubi returned this Thursday morning to the pontoons of Marina Coruña, in the port of Oza in A Coruña , to continue the *work of capsizing his boat* , with which the last Monday off the Sisargas Islands. The maneuvers began early, but it was at 11:01 a.m. when a crane managed to turn the boat around and put the keel in place. At that moment the damage became more visible: the mast broken at three points, the boom unusable, all the technology and electronics spoiled, the daggerboard and much of the equipment missing... "Something more than expected," they commented. companions of the French shipowner. Luckily, though, the hull seemed intact.

Camprubi soon entered the cabin area and saw the mess. He turned off the radio beacon so as not to interfere with the airport signals and immediately looked for his documentation. “Luckily everything was in his place. Perfect », he would say with relief. That will allow him to *return this Friday by plane to Nice and, from there, to Marseille* , where he lives with his wife and where he also hopes to meet again with his five children, the rest of his family and friends, "who have saturated my mobile with messages", He pointed excitedly.

After that first visual inspection of the _Jeanne_ , as the injured competition sailboat is called, its captain was surprised at his luck: « *When I entered, seeing how the boat turned out, I don't understand how I was able to survive* . The conditions were very adverse." In fact, he recounts that on Monday afternoon the *air bubble* he had in the cabins was about 70 centimeters and, after spending the night, it was reduced to 40 or 30 centimeters, so *time was running against me .*. On Wednesday, when the boat was already on the jetty, the water occupied everything. There was no air left », he explained surprised. He confessed that the trance was difficult to manage: I never panicked, at any time. I analyzed the situation, tried to see reality and find solutions. But I was afraid that I would never see my children again." Laurent remembered the exact moment, after many hours of uncertainty under the hull of the _Jeanne_, in which he knew he would be saved: «In the morning, when they came back for me, I waited, I got ready, and as soon as I saw a hand through the door I dived in a second, I went outside and I met Andrés, the submariner. He told me that they expected to meet a tired, wandering man who they would have to help... but a sea dog appeared! He told me later that he almost couldn't catch me swimming », he explained excitedly. On Wednesday afternoon, after being discharged from the Chuac , Laurent met again with many of the Salvamento Marítimo personnel who participated in his rescue. “They were fantastic. They are amazing people. I have a lot of respect for them." He explained that in that meeting

*He tried to provide these professionals with all kinds of information and details* so that they could take them into account in similar rescues

Camprubi, who is an experienced sailor and has participated in many local and international competitions, told La Voz de Galicia that the experience has made him decide he will no longer compete professionally. “I don’t want to risk my life anymore,” he said. “I just want to take care of my family.”

*After retrieving his papers from inside the sailboat, Laurent Camprubi will return to Marseille on Friday. Everything indicates that a structural failure caused the loss of the daggerboard and the immediate capsize*

As for the damage to the ship, valued at more than 800,000 euros, Laurent Camprubi played it down: “It is not a problem. The important thing is that I'm fine and now I can dedicate myself to taking care of my family. *I don't want to risk my life anymore* . I don't want to compete in solo regattas anymore. I will dedicate myself to more local competitions or around the Mediterranean. He also remembered when, already safe with the Maritime Salvage professionals, he was able to *contact his wife by phone: «I couldn't speak, we could only cry* . It was an incredible emotion." He assured without stopping smiling that the important thing now is to take care of his family.
As for the cause of the accident, Manuel Capeáns is clear: "Losing the daggerboard is a safe capsize". He explains that this piece of the keel is what gives stability to a boat, especially a competition boat like the one Camprubi piloted. “If a boat like the _Jeanne_ weighs about 4.5 tons, the daggerboard is 50% of the weight, about 2.5 tons. Without it, the boat stops being stable and capsizes ", he confirms. Although he is awaiting investigation, it is most likely that *a structural failure caused the daggerboard to fall. *"No, *they weren't killer whales* , I didn't see any during the entire journey," confirmed Laurent Camprubi.


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

Here are a couple pictures of the damaged boat back in port....


















Below are computer renderings of a Cape 40.V2 which is the model boat in question.


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

*He told me that they expected to meet a tired, wandering man who they would have to help... but a sea dog appeared!*

4.5 tonne boat of which 2.5 tonnes is the keel

Well he has giving long passages the heave Ho! 

Mark


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

This disaster does not surprise me.


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

SanderO said:


> This disaster does not surprise me.


I find it interesting that you are not surprised by this incident. The more that I learn about this, the more i am surprised that this occurred. 

After all, these boats are designed to race across oceans and around the world and have done so without incident. They are designed and engineered to be pushed hard in the toughest conditions. Yet this happened in relatively moderate conditions compared to the conditions encountered in the roaring 40's. 

These boats use the sturdiest type of hull to keel connection available. Yet the keel appears to have simply dropped out of the boat. 

It would be easy to assume that perhaps a retainer bolt or two were left out. But if that was the case, then I would not expect that the boat would have kept its an pocket very long since the empty bolt holes would have provided a path for the air to leave the interior of the boat. 

If this was an older boat, I might have speculated that something fatigued or corroded and failed, but this is a comparatively new boat. If this was a brand new boat or a prototype I might have speculated that something was under engineered, or that there was a manufacturing defect. But sisterships have been in use in harsh conditions for several years, and this boat had enough use that a manufacturing defect probably would have shown up before now. 

I might have speculated that the small cross-section of the keel was inadequate for the loads, but if that were the case I would expect to see a torn portion of keel where the keel exited the hull rather than the clean edged socket in the photos.

So I personally find this very surprising and look forward to hearing the results of the inquiry into why the keel was lost.

Jeff


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

I suspect the factor of safety (engineering) is less... because it means more mass. Boats want to be light as possible... but they often are "in the edge".


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## overbored (Oct 8, 2010)

I think the air did leave the hull but he said he only had about 30cm of airspace which would be less then the height of the sink bowl or the bolts in the keel trunk. Likely they did not install all the bolts properly or they all did not share the load equally which caused them to fail one at a time. Could have happened over a long time or since the boat was built.


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

Jeff_H said:


> After all, these boats are designed to race across oceans and around the world and have done so without incident. They are designed and engineered to be pushed hard in the toughest conditions. Yet this happened in relatively moderate conditions compared to the conditions encountered in the roaring 40's.


"Yet this happened in relatively moderate conditions compared to the conditions encountered in the roaring 40's."

This is Cape Finisterre! The gateway to the Bay of Biscay. Its as notorious as Cape Hatteras.
38 ships were sunk in 1 storm when the second Spanish Armada set off to attack England.
Its in the 40's. 43 degrees North. But not the Southern Ocean Roaring 40s
Last year I avoided this place by 200 nms and was still beaten up even though the winds were up my butt.
This guy was punching into them.
Finisterre beat up Lin and Larry Pardy (after they wrote about it being so dangerous.
The Romans called it "The end of the known World" in fact _finis terrae_, means "end of the earth" 
The coast, known locally as the Costa da Morte (Death Coast), has been the site of numerous shipwrecks and founderings, including that of the British ironclad HMS Captain, leading to the loss of nearly 500 lives, in 1870
In the 2010s and 2020s, the waters of Cape Finisterrre have been the venue for several orca attacks against sailboats at Atlantic Ocean. 












This was the weather after the first report. My black circle is a little below where this incident occured.
I was doing some weather watching for a friend heading from Gibralter to Canaries , I wasnt weather routing, and only looking at his escape from Tangeirs, Morocco, and saw the weather pick up and change to a Northerly. It was getting far too strong heading to the Canaries and my friend had to drop his mainsail and go under reefed genoa poled out still doing 7 knots.

Going the other way off Finisterre, against the Portugese Current would have been hell

The sailor is from Marseille in the Mediteranian, not from the French Atlantic Coast. He may have been inexperienced in this area (like a US east coast sailor who has never gone around Cape Hatteras)

Read this carefully, translated from a French report, not a spanish report (the skipper is French)

"Laurent Camprubi ...: "Around 6 a.m., the conditions were as expected, then the sea rose more and more," he said. Just when he thought he had done the hardest part and was taking advantage of a little respite to rest,* a wave caused* the boat to skid. "I'm in the cockpit, the boat is going well and suddenly the boat takes off completely abnormally [French usage: weirdly]. I understand right away. » The Frenchman got up quickly and tried to lower the mainsail « but the mast was already in the water, the boat sank immediately. Camprubi leaps into the cockpit and is upside down in seconds. "I couldn't close the doors with the water coming in with too much force. And there we say to ourselves that we are not well. »" Voile. Coincé sous son bateau pendant 16 heures, Laurent Camprubi, miraculé, raconte son naufrage (ouest-france.fr) 

This indicates* the mast fractured BEFORE the boat capsized.*

How could that happen?

Is he misquoted? 
I don't think so because if the rig was still up and you knew the keel had broken off why would you go below? But the first thing I would do with a breaking mast is go below. If I thought the keel had snapped I would be getting out the life raft and staying out of the cabin.

Jeff, does the keel attachment have anything to do with the mast step? The keel breaks one way and the mast pops up with equal and opposite force?

So if the thumping to windward around finisterre does some structural damage, he rounds the Cape and the wind gets a bit better so he rests, the boat then hits a wave that causes the weakened keel to break instantly breaking the mast?

Final point: These boats are designed to race around the world DOWNWIND. 
Going upwind they are a downhill sled, ULDB of 4.5 tonnes, into 30 plus knots on a short swell.
Thumping into every wave would send a wave up the carbon mast making the mast head to be like a cowboys whip.

Im gunna say he was thrashing it too hard upwind in one of the worlds most dangerous spots.


Mark


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

Mark,

I am sure there will be more definitive information coming out over time. I was aware of where he was and that he had been through some rough weather. But the articles that I saw said that he had been through heavier than expected weather but that things had quieted down by the time the keel was lost. One article mentioned winds that were translated to 15-20 knots and 2 meter waves at the time of the capsize. 

There are two quotes that suggest that the boat did not lose the mast before the keel. In the first quote the skipper said that he adjusted the mainsheet and the boat had an unusual motion at that time. He didn't think anything about it and went into the shelter to rest in the quieter conditions. The second quote is in that article you linked.

*"I'm in the cockpit, the boat is going well and all of a sudden the boat takes off completely abnormally. I understand right away." 
"*The Frenchman got up quickly and tried to lower the mainsail "* but the mast was already in the water, the boat sank immediately."
" Camprubi* leaps into the cockpit and is upside down in seconds.:

While the translation may not be accurate, my take is that once the keel is lost the boat knocks down. The skipper tries to lower the mainsail but by then the mast is in the water. My interpretation (and I easily could be mistaken,) is that the boat is in the process of capsizing and has heeled to the point that the mast is horizontal or past horizontal, and in the water. 

I some what agree with Overbored's comments that the restraining bolts failed. I found a picture of the interior of a race boat interior with a cassette type keel attachment and the socket appears to be over a foot above the hull so it's possible that the air was forced out of the bolt holes ( which is contradictory to my earlier comments) 

In any event. Hopefully a whole lot more information will come out over time. 

Jeff


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

Structural fatigue can be a hidden enemy. Things may look "normal" but the elements of a system may be fatigued. You can see how a rig can be highly tensioned on the windward side and slack on the lee side... and cycling through this many times. 
Years ago I had a lee shroud show a couple of cracked strands in the 1x19 wire while on the same tack for hundreds of miles between LI and Bermuda. I connected a spare halyard... but did not have that side on windward. I replaced the shroud in Bermuda. Good idea to keep some wire and Norsemen fittings if you have to do a repair.
I you have to use the same wire, it will be shorter... and you may be able to add some rigging toggles to make up the length.


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

SanderO said:


> Structural fatigue can be a hidden enemy. Things may look "normal" but the elements of a system may be fatigued. You can see how a rig can be highly tensioned on the windward side and slack on the lee side... and cycling through this many times


I agree that fatigue can be a major contributer to a weakening of material strength that can ultimately lead to a failure. But there is nothing I have seen within the currently known to the public information that would suggest that fatigue could be a factor in this case.

This is an almost new boat engineered to withstand the abuses of a circumnavigation in really harsh conditions. The number of hard cycles in those conditions are exponentially greater than would be experienced by an almost new boat. In other words, it is probable that this boat did not have enough use to suggest that fatigue was an contributing issue.

Mark mentioned that the rig was likely to whip a lot going upwind. I do not think that is all that likely. Carbon fiber spars tend to be much stiffer and much lighter than aluminum spars. The light weight means there is less kinetic energy to cause whipping and the stiffness of the spars would reduce the velocity of the mast which would similarly reduce whipping. 

My sense is that going upwind on a boat like this would certainly be a rough ride. I also agree with Mark that these boats are optimized for very deep reaching conditions. But they are still engineered for the long periods of heavy weather beating that they would be expected to encounter on their trips up and down the Atlantic. 

My gut sense from the current information is that the failures will either turn out to be a manufacturing defect, or an assembly defect rather than an operator or engineering error, but of course additional information could certainly prove my gut reaction wrong.

Jeff


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## paulk (Jun 2, 2000)

It appears that the boat has been towed to LaCoruna. Initial inspections indicate that the bolts holding the keel in its box are intact, and that the laminate in the hull around the box is not damaged.


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## CrispyCringle (Jul 30, 2017)

The translation is strange, but it sounds to me like the keel came off, and the boat skidded sideways "in a abnormal way" because of no keel and the relatively flat bottom hull, followed shortly by the capsize and mast breakage. I dont understand the mast breaking in 3 places. But when CF goes, it usually goes with a bang. 

"Laurent Camprubi ...: "Around 6 a.m., the conditions were as expected, then the sea rose more and more," he said. Just when he thought he had done the hardest part and was taking advantage of a little respite to rest,* a wave caused* the boat to skid. "I'm in the cockpit, the boat is going well and *suddenly the boat takes off completely abnormally* [French usage: weirdly]. I understand right away. » The Frenchman got up quickly and tried to lower the mainsail « but the mast was already in the water, the boat sank immediately.


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

paulk said:


> It appears that the boat has been towed to LaCoruna. Initial inspections indicate that the bolts holding the keel in its box are intact, and that the laminate in the hull around the box is not damaged.



Then how did the keel depart the boat? 


Mark


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

Guessing. bolts came out of the keel..... keel broke and most of it fell off...


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## redgar (8 mo ago)

SanderO said:


> Guessing. bolts came out of the keel..... keel broke and most of it fell off...


Except, Paul K mentioned earlier today:



> Initial inspections indicate that the bolts holding the keel in its box are intact [ ... ]


Curiouser and curiouser! 

~~ Red


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## paulk (Jun 2, 2000)

Guess again. Post #18 states that the bolts are intact - they did not come out. As Jeff suggested, this likely kept the air from leaking out of the upturned hull and enabled the skipper to stay alive while he waited for rescue. There is no apparent damage to the hull. The keel on these boats is built into a box, or cassette, which is similar to a centerboard trunk. It is reinforced by interior structures inside the cabin to keep it from moving and to make it very strong - as shown by the lack of hull damage. This link shows photos of a box inside a hull being built:



__ https://www.facebook.com/


A bulb is put on the bottom of the foil, which is slid up into the box and bolted in place. It would appear that the foil broke at or near where it exits the hull.

Dang- they took down the photos. It showed a box about 2' high and 8" wide in the centerline of the hull under construction. No shots of the interior reinforcement structures linking it to the hull or deck.


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

The keel is fixed? It's not like a center board you can raise a bit? 

Mark


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## paulk (Jun 2, 2000)

Daggerboards are forbidden by the Class 40 rules. They also state:
403. RUDDERS AND STEERING SYSTEM, KEEL FIN
Forbidden materials are:

 Carbon fibre
 Aramid fibre
 Any fibre where the maximum tensile strength is in excess of 3800 MPa
 Honeycomb cores.
The 3D milling of metal keel fins and rudder stocks is forbidden.
For boats launched from July 2012 onwards and for rudders with stocks, only solid, turned stocks (having an axis of rotation) and made from one type of metal only are permitted. The types of metal permitted are

 316L
 17-4PH
 F16-PH
 Alloy 7075


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

There is a lot of that can be gleaned in even these small bits of additional information. But I will start with a quick explanation of what the Class 40 is. The Class 40 was intended as an affordable entry level platform for single-handed and double handed long distant ocean racers. As the Open 60's have become wildly complex and expensive to build, update and operate, the goal was to find a way for fledgling short-handed racers to build skills and prove themselves. You can think of the Class 40 being the short-handed long distant ocean racer equivalent of the minor league in baseball, or Formula F (Formula Ford) relative to Grand Prix car racing.

To achieve the stated goal of keeping costs down, the Class 40 rules require that the boats have fixed keels (rather than canting keels) and that they cannot use exotic materials or means of construction. Class 40 is a box rule, meaning that there are specific limits on specific dimensions that control what the designer can do, but other than those restrictions on materials and dimensions the design starts with a blank slate, The rule includes safety measures like water tight bulkheads and required 90 degree inclination and righting tests that also heavily load the mast, 

Because these boats are designed for long distance racing (including races that are circumnavigations), they are optimized for reaching conditions. They employ hull forms and rigs that minimize drag while optimizing stability and drive. They are also optimized to be able to plane when they are not beating. A Class 40 hull and keel looks like the photo below.










The number and type of foils (keels, daggerboards, and rudders) are severely limited so that Class 40's are only allowed to have two rudders, and a single fixed keel. As PaulK quoted from the Class 40 rules, the materials used in the keel and rudder posts are severely limited to non-exotic materials. What that means is that the keel in this case is probably either a steel, stainless steel, or aluminum weldment, or a steel, stainless steel, or aluminum casting, with the lead bulb bolted to the end of the fin. The fact that the bolt are still in place, and that the hull was not damaged, suggests that the failure was in the keel fin and occurred at or below the bolts. The clean exit of the fin from the hull suggests that the failure was a tensile failure or a sheer failure of the fin rather than a bending failure.

That would make sense for a cassette style keel attachment since the highest bending forces are taken by the sides of the cassette trunk and the sides of the embedded portion of the fin at the point that the fin exits the hull. To explain what a cassette keel attachment is, a cassette keel attachment would best be visualized as a daggerboard trunk that is sealed at the top with a daggerboard like keel fin that is inserted in that trunk and that fits tightly in the trunk and cannot be raised or lowered while underway. Typically the trunk resists all upward vertical, transverse, and fore and aft forces. Instead of a the lifting mechanism of a daggerboard holding the keel from dropping out of the trunk, there is typically a bolted connection that restrains keel fin in place. Those bolted connections can be beefed up versions that are similar to those found on lift keel boats like the J-70, but more typically on a bigger boat, I would expect those bolts to pass transversely through the sides of the trunk and top of the keel fin.

If this is a welded keel fin, or some kind of composite keel fin, I would expect that the upper portion of the keel, (i.e. that portion which is in the area of the trunk and particularly where the bolting occurs), would be heavily internally reinforced. And that would mean that minimally there would be a stress riser at the transition between the internally reinforced portion of the keel and the portion of the keel without internal reinforcing. In a composite keel I would expect that to occur at or below the bottom of the hull, and that the post-failure would look very messy with strands of fiberglass trailing out of the bottom of the trunk. (I have not seen pictures that show that but that may be the case.) While still very much conjectural on my part, given my impression of the neatness of the failure, it is more likely that this is a welded keel fin. My further conjecture is that adding internal reinforcement on a welded keel fin would require a series of welded connections in the area of the internal reinforcement. Improper welding can weaken the metal in the area of the weld, and a poorly performed weld can be brittle and weaker than the adjacent metal.

My SWAG at this point is that, if this is a welded keel fin, then the failure is the result of a bad weld in the area adjacent to the internal reinforcement. If this is a cast steel fin, then my speculation is that there was a defect in the casting either in terms of the metallurgy not matching the design assumptions, or that there was some other defect in the casting (i.e. perhaps trapped air, or non-homogeneity in the metal).

Various internet discussions have suggested that this may have been an operator error due to the skipper pressing the boat to hard in heavy conditions. While this remains a distinct possibility, my sense is that operator error is not a likely causal probability. The short-handed community is a very close knit group, and the Class 40 sailors are an even closer knit community. There is a strong Class 40 training community that is based on the west coast of France that allows new members of the class to interact and exchange ideas and coaching with fellow Class 40 skippers. Those fellow class skippers include some of the most highly regarded long distance solo-racers in the world. Unlike the IMOCA 60's and the Mini Prototypes, until now, the Class 40 boats have proven to be robust and reliable even when hit by very extreme conditions. The community who sail these boats seem to have a good sense of their capabilities and how hard they can be pushed. Jeanne's skipper, Laurent Camprubi was a part of that community training in France and exposed to the best available information. Images of these boats being pushed hard in horrible conditions suggest that they can stand up to a whole lot of hard use, and that the limits seem to be set by the ability of the skipper to stand the abuse rather than the boat failing.

But to be clear, all of this above is pretty wild speculation on my part and that the real causes of the keel loss will come to light as the investigation continues..

(My long coffee break is over and I need to get back to work.)

Jeff


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

While there is a lot of discussion on this Class 40 keel loss, there have been a several notable race boat keels lost in the past year. In my mind the most daunting is the Farr X2: This was a virtualy new boat. So far I have not seen an explanation of what happened. Here is an article on that one from the British sailing magazine *Yachting World:. *
*Keel failure for new Farr X2*
In a remarkable rescue two sailors have been rescued off the coast of New South Wales, Australia, after the keel detached causing a capsize on the new Farr X2 they were sailing. The pair, both reported to be highly experienced yachtswomen, were found clinging to the hull of the upturned yacht over 15 hours after it inverted.
The two sailors were sailing Hull #1 of the new Farr X2 about 15 nautical miles off Wollongong when the yacht rolled at around 0100 on 2 July.
The Australian Joint Rescue Coordination Centre initiated a search shortly after 1300 that day, and the Royal Australian Navy destroyer _HMAS Brisbane_ arrived at the 60-square-mile search area about an hour later.
The upturned yacht was spotted by the crew of a passing merchant vessel, _MV Arietta Lily_, shortly after 1500, and _HMAS Brisbane_ headed to its position.
The two yachtsmen were found clinging to the hull of the upturned yacht, and rescued by the destroyer’s RIB boat in 30-knot winds and 2-metre swells.
Despite spending 15 hours in the water, the two sailors were reported to be in good health, and were reunited with their loved ones at Fleet Base East, Sydney, a couple of hours later.
*Nexba Racing team*
Two days after the incident the Nexba Racing team issued the following statement on Facebook:
_As our close followers may be aware, team ‘Nexba’ capsized in the very early hours of Saturday morning. The team were completing a 100nm qualifier and had left Pittwater early Friday afternoon to be back in Pittwater by early to mid-Saturday morning.
“Around 1am on Saturday morning as the team made their way home to Sydney in light to moderate breeze and 1-2m seas, the boat capsized. After spending 15hrs drifting out to sea with the upturned vessel, the team were rescued and are now safe on land, and have recovered in hospital with minor injuries. They are not yet ready to talk about their ordeal in a public forum and are grateful for space at this time. They will release a statement when they are ready.
The girls wish to say: “Thank you everyone for your kind words of support, we are so grateful to have survived an awful ordeal and for our amazing community of family, friends, fellow sailors (basically family) and all of the incredible people who assisted in our rescue effort.
Thank you so greatly in particular to everyone who assisted in the team’s rescue effort, especially the incredible and highly trained team from the HMAS Brisbane, the crew of the Arietta Lily, the water police, marine rescue, 000 and the many parties who helped in communicating our position.”

A full investigation into the events leading to the boats inversion and the efforts made by the team to survive will be conducted so that others can learn from this experience and avoid such a terrible ordeal. We will see you all on the water again very soon. xx_

*New Farr X2 design*
The Farr X2 is a new compact racing design from renowned designers Farr Yacht Design, promoted as the first small new race boat from Farr since the much-loved Mumm 30 in the 1990s.








The Farr X2 sailing in Sydney before the incident. Photo © Matt Cumming/Vicsail
The Farr X2 is a production built boat designed specifically for short-handed racing, although, and was conceived by well-known Australian sailor Bret Perry, and built in Singapore by XSP.
In a statement FarrX2 Australia said: “On July 2, 2022 the Farr X2 _Nexba Racing_ was completing an overnight offshore qualifier off the coast of New South Wales, Australia. The boat was sailing into a building breeze and significant seaway when the keel attachment failed resulting in a capsize.
“We are very thankful that the two crew were safely recovered and for the swift action of the Royal Australian Navy Destroyer _HMAS Brisbane_ for rescuing the sailors in very challenging conditions.
“Attempts are underway to recover the vessel to allow a thorough investigation process into the cause of this incident. We take the safety of all the crews who sail on boats of our design very seriously and our design team is working with the builders, component suppliers and the composite structural engineers to identify the root cause and to implement any necessary design, material or build process changes required to insure [sic] this cannot happen again.”








Hull #1 of the new Farr X2. Photo: Matt Cumming/Vicsail
The X2 features a 30ft hull, plus bowsprit, and carries 250-litres of water ballast on either side, to give the equivalent righting moment of two or three crew. It has a two-spreader rig with running backstays and flies a 102 sqm asymmetric and 41.4sqm Code Zero, designed for exceptional fast reaching performance.
The Farr X2 has a projected IRC TCC of 1.080 and is suitable for World Sailing Category One Races.








The keel of the Farr X2 – this is Hulll #2, recently delivered into the USA
*Appalling conditions*
Commander Kingsley Scarce, Commanding Officer of the Brisbane, paid tribute to his crew’s bravery in difficult conditions. “We were happy that we could come to the aid of fellow mariners in their time of need,” Commander Scarce said:
“It was tremendous teamwork from all of Brisbane’s crew, from those who coordinated the search effort and response, to the bridge crew and lookouts, to those who provided medical care and hospitality, to the survivors once rescued, and to all others who supported. The entire crew was eager to do whatever they could in the rescue effort.

“I want to particularly acknowledge the bravery of the sea boat crew, who conducted the rescue in appalling sea conditions.”
The location of the disabled yacht has been reported to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority as a navigation hazard.

ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
*Here’s additional comments from the racing team:*
As our close followers may be aware, team ‘Nexba’ capsized in the very early hours of Saturday morning (July 2). The team was completing a 100nm qualifier and had left Pittwater early Friday afternoon to be back in Pittwater by early to mid-Saturday morning.
Around 1am on Saturday morning, as the team made their way home to Sydney in light to moderate breeze and 1-2m seas, the boat capsized. After spending 15 hours drifting out to sea with the upturned vessel, the team was rescued and are now safe on land, and have recovered in hospital with minor injuries.
——————
Hull # 2 was shipped to San Francisco for the 2022 Pacific Cup race to Hawaii but is no longer listed as an entrant. At least eight boats have been sold.


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

Thanks Jeff. Great work 😊

As you've said, there must be tremendous forces on a tiny area of the boat, the keel/hull 'join'.
When looking at any product (particularly kids toys) I always ponder which is the weak point that's going to break. With my total lack of engendering design knowledge it seems obvious to me that both the keel bulb at one end and the flat bottom boat at the other end are both exerting huge leverage at different angles at the location of a fulcrum at/near the keel hull join.

Mark


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

Lots of moment (leverage) exerted by that bulb (long arm) on a small root area where it is connected.

Compared with my boat.... the keel flange is about 10' long and 10" wide and the depth is 75"


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

SanderO said:


> Lots of moment (leverage) exerted by that bulb (long arm) on a small root area where it is connected.
> 
> Compared with my boat.... the keel flange is about 10' long and 10" wide and the depth is 75"


So while the keel of a Class 40 does generate enormous moment and shear forces at the point that the keel enters the hull relative to the keel on the Contest, it is much easier to engineer a much stronger keel to hull joint with the type of keel joint used on the Class 40 than is used on the Contest.

I don't know how well you can see this but this is a drawing below from a prior generation Class 40 (2007).








If you look at the section and plan, you can see that the top of the Keel comes up into a box that is roughly 40 cm high and which has the boat's main bulkhead as the forward face of the box, and a partial bulkhead and a massive transverse frame as the aft end of the box, plus partial bulkheads at the mid point of the box that tie into 4o cm fore and aft bulkheads that tie into the main bulkhead and the sides of the taller bulkhead and transverse frames. The ability to create a robust internal structure is enormous with the type of connection. Plus the bearing areas where the box and the top of the keel touch are huge compared to the sectional area of bolts on your bolt-on keel.

Jeff


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

@Jeff_H "The ability to create a robust internal structure is enormous with the type of connection. "

Earlier post you said: "if this is a welded keel fin, then the failure is the result of a bad weld "

These 2 statements bring the whole argument of structural integrity back to a human error bad weld. You can build a brick toilet but the seat can still fall off.

Can a bad weld be identified by ultrasound, or something?
If the bulb hits a whale, big fish, dolphin, or bit of rubbish at sea when the boat is surfing down a wave at 20+ knots. 

Its unfortunate that the media on both events (and all boating disasters) seems to center on the heroic rescues, not the cause of the accident itself.

I doubt there will be an official investigation as there was no loss of life. 

Mark


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## paulk (Jun 2, 2000)

If the investigation isn't official, we may get results faster. The insurance company (and all the other insurance companies that cover these boats) will still want to know what happened. As will the builder, so they can avoid the problem if it was something they did (or didn't do). A quick inspection of the remains of the keel foil might show traces of crevice corrosion, or as has been suggested, a bad weld, or flaw in the metal. Word may come in less than a week if someone there asks the right person and posts it.


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

I only have a minute, but I think that Paul is right that we should get the unofficial results sooner than official results but only if they are not buried by some settlement agreement, or whitewashed to protect the company, or tied up to protect the parties in litigations. I have seen quite a few of the official reports on keel failures and also quite a few of the expert witness reports. It is interesting how much can be determined after the fact, and how generally, even when detailed testing has been performed to 'prove' causation, the basic cause of the failure is obvious on first sight. 

I will note that usually the boat builders and sometimes designers want these reports out there so that they can then explain either how this was not a problem with the design and/or the build of the particular boat or how they are correcting the problems on future boats and/or retrofitting already built boats. 

I am a little surprised that nothing has emerged on the Farr X2. They should know what the problem was by now, and I would think that a statement would be issued explaining how the problem is being addressed since they have a number of these boats on order. 

Jeff


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## paulk (Jun 2, 2000)

As an aside re the Farr X2 -- it seems that boat #2 of this design is no longer entering the 2022 Transpac.


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

Paul,
I saw that and also noticed that the ads for the boat seem to be pulled down. My assumption is that they are grounding the boats and temperarily stopping production out of an abundance of caution until they figure it out and can fix whatever caused the X2 keel to drop.


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## JimsCAL (May 23, 2007)

I guess I somewhat agree with both Jeff and Sander on this Class 40 keel design. I get Jeff's argument about how robust the casette structure is that supports the inserted keel. But I also get nervous when I see how skinny and long the keel fin is. Looks like the keel fin itself failed, not the supporting hull structure.


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## hpeer (May 14, 2005)

It seems some initial reports on what was found left in the keel box would a long way.

We heard the bots were still there. 
Were they straight or bent?
Was there any vestigial material around them?
Was anything else in the stub? 

Not sure why no further info. Could be a lot of reasons. But a little common sense observation would help.


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

hpeer said:


> It seems some initial reports on what was found left in the keel box would a long way.
> 
> We heard the bots were still there.
> Were they straight or bent?
> ...


These incidents are often (maybe typically) silent during the initial investigations. There are a lot of good reasons for that. They may also remain 'sealed' for a number of less that ideal reasons.

At the very inception of an investigation, more than anything else, no one in authority wants to take a quick guess that may turn out to be wrong. This is akin to what sometimes happens in a criminal investigation where police departments try to be careful to avoid putting out misleading information before they have enough accurate information to make truthful statements..

In the case of a boat losing its keel, some of the silence results from protection of the various interested party's financial position. In events like this, there are a bunch of legal/financial stake holders. These might include the owner, boat crew, families of the lost or injured, their Insurance companies, the boat builder, the boat designer, the boat engineer, perhaps a weather routing service, the rescue service, and so on.

Because of the legal and financial implications of these post-disaster studies, it becomes natural that things go silent. Generally, the purpose of the majority of private post-disaster investigations is to gather information with the ultimate process intended to assign 'liability' to those at fault and to compensate those who are deserved compensation. Because there will be conflicts of interest between the various stakeholders, each may stakeholder commission their own independent private investigation with the intent of protecting their own financial interest. While the lawyers may leak information that they think help their client, strategically there is a tendency to avoid information leaks because one of the tools that is used to reach a settlement is to offer a non-disclosure agreement in exchange for compensation so that the liable parties can in effect at least buy some protection of their reputation. Obviously when there is a loss of life or a major incident then it is much harder to hide the information that may be gathered by a government agency or a national sailing authority. 

There certainly are of course cases where the manufacturer and designer step forward and explain what happen and what they plan to do to correct the problem once the causes were identified and a settlement reached. 

But unfortunately, all to many times, the settlements are sealed and there is a strong non-disclosure agreement as a part of that agreement, For example, the non-disclosure situation happened in the keel loss cases on 'Coyote' and 'Cynthia Woods'. To this day, no information was released on Coyote, and almost none on the Cynthia Woods beyond the Coast Guard report which did not provide anywhere near the total structural data that came out of the private investigations.

Jeff


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## hpeer (May 14, 2005)

Jeff,

Yes I understand everything you said. And it is a pity that is the world we live in. But here we are.
That said I believe that were this an aviation incident there would ultimately be a formal report with evidence and conclusions. Somehow aviation has a different and better model.

Not that this particular instance matters much to me with my steel boat. But in other cases it might.


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## paulk (Jun 2, 2000)

hpeer said:


> Not that this particular instance matters much to me with my steel boat. But in other cases it might.


If Jeanne's keel was made of steel - seeing that exotic materials are not permitted - it might matter quite a a bit.


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## hpeer (May 14, 2005)

Paul,
Not getting your point. 
Presuming “Jeanne” is the name of the afflicted boat?
I
Am not saying I have a steel keel, the entire hull is of steel. To the beat if my knowledge no steel boat has ever lost its welded on keel.


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

I understand the rule on exotic materials is to keep the entry costs to the Class... But doesn't this mean inferior strength materials are being used in a boat designed for stresses far higher than older design vessels? 

Mark


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## paulk (Jun 2, 2000)

You build to accommodate the stresses based on the material you use. If you build with wood the scantlings are one size. If you build in aluminum the scantlings are different. The properties of the materials used are known, and the stresses involved are fairly well understood as well. Some One-Design classes require sails to be made of woven Polyester fabric (Dacron) in order to keep costs down. Is this also an 'inferior strength' material? Should sails not be made from it any longer because sometimes they tear? Should sailors all be required to replace their chainplates with titanium because stainless steel is an "inferior strength" metal? Boats like Jeanne - Class 40's - regularly cross oceans at 20+ knots with few breakdowns. On Jeanne they may find that there was a problem with a casting or welding -- we don't know exactly how the foil broke, or why. It may not have been stress, but corrosion that caused it to fail. Do we even know what it was made of? We need to learn more before coming to any conclusions.


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