New York Yacht Club

A Weekend of Seamanship at Harbour Court

* * *

First DaySaturday, October 17

LESSONS LEARNED in the Trans-Atlantic Race 2015

To whet your appetite, please watch any or all of these videos:https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A0LEVr4T9idWbpMAkr8nnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByMjB0aG5zBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=TransAtlantic+Race+2015+Race+Track&fr=yhs-mozilla-001&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001

* * *

The Seamanship Committee of the NYYC sponsored a panel on “Lessons Learned from the TR15” held at Harbour Court (Sailing Center) on Saturday, October 17, from 10:00 till 14:00, with a working lunch in between . It was a very informative panel, with each participant making comments for some 20 minutes on their impressions from participating in TR15, followed by discussion. The panel was moderated by Bjorn Johnson, who chaired the technical committee of TR15 and crewed aboard Snow Lion in the race. The participants: Past Commodore Lawrence Huntington, Richard Du Moulin, Charlie Enright, Drew Wilkins, Henry Di Petro, and Dr. Dominick Cannavo covered the following areas for various categories of participating yachts, from fast racers to slower cruising yachts:

Boat preparation, training, and routines Routing and Navigation Weather Sail handling

Crew watches Damages and repairs at seas Food Medical situations/emergencies Communications

* * *

Boat and Crew Preparation

Richard Du Moulin taught us that planning, boat preparation, and hands-on repeated practice are true seamanship. These are lessons that apply to all boats, but especially to those that go offshore.

No boat is better founded than the well-tested Carina. For such yacht it helps to own a shipyard for proper maintenance, and Carina is graced with that. A McCurdy & Rhodes 1969 design, she is heavy, deep in the water, and compartmentalized, which creates difficulties in access to her various systems. She displaces 18 tons of water. At a wind range of 18-40 knots on the beam and stern during TR15, this put great strains on the rig, sails, and most systems aboard. At one point in the race, Carina’s speed reached 21.7 knots going wing-on-wing. One lesson learned is, under such conditions, the need to use heavy, shorter sails. Even so, there was damage on the sails to heads, corners, leech, as well as wear and tear on the rigging. There was repeated chafing on the running rigging.

Some lessons: reef well ahead of time; watch pressure on the spreaders, have the crew clip on going in and out of the companionway; prepare the main sail for weak spots as the boat goes downwind; inspect the steering on every watch. The secret for meeting these challenges is, besides boat preparation, the intimate knowledge that the entire crew has of all corners of the boat. But there is also a well-defined division of labor. Before the race, the crew was split into smaller teams, each specializing on one system and/or area of the boat, the risks involved, the likely problems, and how to solve them.

The crew trained repeatedly on the boat, and Du Moulin considers indispensable that each yacht planning on a passage or ocean race make a point of testing boat and crew with full-dress rehearsals before. This means at least twice overnight exercises with the entire crew. Practice MOB recovery and not just in the usual perfunctory fashion. Du Moulin said that he also learned the importance of sail design and shape for future contests on the basis of TR15.

Charlie Enright reported that Lucky’s crew, composed of busy sailors, including two Volvo veterans and four NYYC members, came together only very close to the start of the race, with little time to check thoroughly all systems and especially the condition of the sails. Nevertheless, they knew each other and the boat well from

previous ocean races, had practiced together before, and could sail the boat proficiently, but also had to repair sails underway.

Navigation

All boats had competent and experienced navigators, using state-of-the-art information platforms and analyses. Jennifer Clark received special praise for her accurate charts of the Gulf Stream. Some of the variables that had to be grappled with were wind predictions, currents, sea state, location of ice, and boat calculated performance as the ability to either avoid or stay within weather systems.

Weather:

It was clear from all participants that weather was a dominant feature of the race. For the Start 2 starters, they had great wind the whole way across, in some cases more wind than they would have wished (upwards of 50 knots) But, as Commodore Huntington reported, this required careful navigation, going South the first two days in order to avoid light air, benefitting from the Gulf Stream, and then catching better breezes, and later correcting course towards the loxodromic (great circle route), while respecting point Alpha (which had to be positioned well south of the ice) and the whale protection zones, leaving them to port. This allowed Snow Lion (his well raced Ker50) to do the race under a “canopy” of brisk breezes from the quarter and aft, some 50NM in diameter, practically all the way to England. A somewhat similar strategy was followed by the overall winning boat Lucky (Bryon Ehrhart’s Reichel/Pugh 63) according to Charlie Enright.

It was Huntington’s eighth transatlantic race and he said it was unique: “Never have I seen the pattern of us catching a southwesterly all the way across the ocean; it never let up, we never had any soft spots. This is the fastest passage I have done; usually it takes around 20 days, but we have done this in eleven and a half.” Snow Lion won Class 3 by 15 hours.

The last few days Huntington said he was amazed by the relentless high speed running conditions, in 18-25 knot winds, which remained steady in direction and speed causing them to register a new top speed of 27 knots. Aboard Snow Lion, Steve Lirakis, who was present at the panel presentation, shot this video of their passage, which Huntington played for the audience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcgAXV9wXLs

Sail handling:

Richard Du Moulin, who skippered Commodore Potts’ Carina, reported the following on preferred techniques of sail changes:

For spinnakers on Carina they always carried the next heavier chute (basis the sail

chart).  These chutes were not adequately reinforced in the corners or the leeches. For the hi top and the running chutes, the foot had too much round.  The jib top ripped from waves.  The chute caught the bow pulpit repeatedly and finally ripped. On board the crew actually rolled up and sewed the lowest panels.

For mainsail chafe and various sail repair, you cannot carry too much Dacron and Kevlar sheets of sticky back.  The crew of Carina used well over 100 square feet -probably 200.  They also ended about 40 feet of tubular spectra cloth to protect halyards as they chafed. 

The Letterbox Drop

This is the takedown for when things tend to get out of control, like when there is so much wind that the crew doesn’t even want to put a jib up, they just need to get the chute down—fast. The letterbox drop works a lot like the leeward takedown, but without a jib up, one needs to hide the spinnaker behind the main, so the crew runs the lazy guy over the boom and down the companionway. The advantage is it keeps people off the foredeck and collapses the sail as it comes down.

On Carina the letterbox takedown was the one and only takedown method.  Never needed to open the foredeck hatch or have any crew forward of the mast for a douse.  Since they had asymmetrical chutes on a pole, the crew set the chute with three sheets attached: port, starboard and a third sheet for a take in line,  as soon as set the taken line was run through the gap between the foot of the main and boom(the letterbox) and to a block on the windward rail about five feet aft of the shroud, then back to a cockpit winch.  Leaving about twenty feet of slack, they put several turns on the winch then cleated it.  By being pre-lead to a winch and cleated , it was always ready and couldn't be lost if the spinnaker sheet broke.  With 30 plus knots of wind, the crew wouldn't do a quick stop for an MOB --too dangerous.   They would do a fast letterbox then beat/motor back upwind.

Crew Watches

The cruising boats represented at the panel used a version of the watch-on-watch system of crew rotation.

On Persevere and Shearwater watch-on-watch with regular hours. This is the classic arrangement of two watches, reported by Henry Di Pietro, traditionally called "starboard" and "port," standing back to back.  In this schedule, each three-person watch is on deck for four hours, then off-watch for four hours before coming back up. This is called four-on-four-off.

While easy to arrange, this system can be tiring, and unless the boat has a full-time cook and navigator, those chores may be neglected.  Another problem is that the system regards all watches as equally demanding  This last problem can be addressed by shortening the night watches to three hours.  In fine weather, the

morning or afternoon watches may be lengthened to six hours, though that stretch challenges the limits of human effectiveness.

Drew Wilkins of Persevere reported a three watch system in which each watch cycled through on-watch, off watch, and standby in three or four hour cycles depending on the time of day.

Both representatives of the cruising yachts, one of which (Shearwater) retired after mainsail damage and hove to for a while, reported more leisurely conditions in the areas of (a) meals, (b) sleep and (c) entertainment/sociability. The price was slower speed and more exposure to severe weather.

On Snow Lion and Carina the skippers adopted a version of individual rotations.  In this system, only one sailor is replaced, and then at hourly intervals.  As an example, in a crew of six, three are on watch at all times.  But instead of changing as a group, a single fresh body comes on deck each hour.  With larger crews, the numbers of replacements and the hourly intervals can be modified. On Lucky the watch plan was 4 hrs on/4 hrs off. They split the watches so that 2 people would come on deck every 2 hrs.

The individual rotation system has its advantages and also its disadvantages.  Its pluses include providing a broader range of sociability and also less crowding below at the watch change.  But with people constantly coming and going, sailors can lose track of where they fit in the rotation and whom they're meant to wake up. 

Damage and repairs at sea

On Carina, fighting for third place with Scarlet Oyster, the wind ripped the clew out of the A5 and the head out of the A3 and also two heavy weather chutes. Missing these from the sail inventory the yacht found herself at a significant disadvantage for the last 500 miles of racing. Still, Carina did very well, and honored her great reputation.

Almost all the boats competing suffered sail damage of varying degrees but on some they tore the top of the mainsail or blew it out altogether. This required the sail to be dropped and repaired. In the case of Shearwater, they retired and headed for the Azores.

There were gear failures of the steering mechanism aboard Carina and Persevere, but repairs were done that avoided having to resort to emergency steering.

This particular type of failure underscored Du Moulin’s informative description of how Carina’s crew is organized into sub-sets of specialized 2-person teams, each responsible for knowing in detail a section or system of the boat, the damage risks involved, and how to face contingencies. In short: Who, What, and How. This is a lesson that should be applied to all boats undertaking a passage.

Another cruising boat also suffered damage to the boom, which separated at the gooseneck, but was reset in place underway.

Persevere suffered damage to one of the spreader tips, which broke off, releasing the shroud, and requiring them to go back, effect repairs, and restart the race. They were last to finish.

All boats represented on the panel reported halyard and rope chafe, which required replacement and vigilant attention.

Hand steering under tough conditions was hard on the various helmsmen, and their hands were often numb as a result.

Food

The racing boats used freeze-dried rations for the crew. They are sold in a standard assortment: Beef Stew, Beef Stroganoff, Chicken Teriyaki, Lasagna w/ Meat Sauce, Scrambled Eggs w/ Ham, and Raspberry Crumble --just add water. Reports on it were mixed: while some said the quality has greatly improved recently, others described it as a version of dog food (but a good dose of Tabasco can improve it). Racing boats like Snow Lion proved that, while pushing the boat hard, it was still possible to alternate freeze-dried rations with delicacies like steaks and casseroles. On other boats, baking bread improved the scents and the morale of the crew. Cruising boats could afford more gourmet meals.

Health and medical issues.

Dominick Cannavo, MD, emphasized that in racing offshore, the two most dangerous medical situations, namely, heart (failure, myocardial infarction, stroke) and head injuries (especially concussion) need a realistic assessment of what should and can reasonably be done offshore. Since there is no #911 to call and no ambulance to take the victim, in the case of heart emergencies, a defibrillator and the ability to administer the proper drugs intra-venous by a trained crew member are a must. The survival rate of heart victims is very short. Carrying a defibrillator in these races should be mandatory. It is used to counteract fibrillation of the heart muscle and restore normal heartbeat by applying a brief electric shock. Most other standard CPR techniques are useless offshore.

There were 2 concussion episodes during TR15, on board Persevere (before the start, with assistance from a nurse practitioner on board and quick removal of the victim at Fort Adams), and Comanche, whose navigator suffered a fall but recovered and was eventually checked at a hospital in the UK. Wearing helmets seemed a very good idea to panelists: they protect human hulls and keep them warm as well. Dr. Cannavo especially mentioned the need to provide a thorough and honest assessment of health risks for each crew member before the race, and make a crew selection accordingly and objectively. He strongly recommended screening for

heart conditions using calcium scans, which are available with no great discomfort and at reasonable price http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/cscan/They are able to detect the buildup of plaque well ahead of the conditions that can be detected by stress tests.

Communications

Many boats reported failures with the Yellow Brick transponders. In some cases, the absence of tracking sounded the alarm at race headquarters, which could have been avoided with better equipment and care of the transponders, especially their location on board. In the case of Shearwater, this lack of communication led to the diverting of UK racing yacht Noonmark VI to assist. (The elapsed time of Noonmark VI was consequently reduced by 10 hours.) One recommendation was to stress to all participants the obligation to report position and condition by alternative means if necessary (such as SAT phones), even after retiring and heading to a different destination. Another recommendation was to lengthen the interval of transmission of track reports.

For Overall Race Results see then TR15 website:http://www.transatlanticrace.com/images/pdf/tr2015_results/tr2015_results_irc_overall.pdf

* * *

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

The United States Coast Guard at Castle Hill Station kindly provided us with their module trainer to teach sailors how to cope with leaks, hull breach, and other emergencies. It was an excellent demonstration and practice of damage control aboard the USCG trailer, with the most professional and cordial instruction by the Castle Hill Station officers, coordinated by BOSN3 Stephen Engle, the Commanding Officer . Participants learned a lot while also, for such a serious exercise, having fun (and getting wet!)

.

* * *

Second Day

Sunday, October 18

Powerboat Handling

On Sunday we had a new event for the Seamanship Committee of the Club: a hands-on training practice on powerboats.

The full-day course was coordinated by Captain Kent Dresser (President, Dresser Marine Group, founder of Confident Captain/Ocean Pros, and Executive Director of Clean The Bay, Inc.) with three very experienced certified instructors from US Powerboating.

Peter Alarie was the lead instructor for the day. Peter is a highly skilled instructor (both in sail and power) and everybody really enjoyed working with him. Alongside Peter we had Scott Jackson and Dave Fetherston, both Captains and very skilled professional boat handlers. The three of them combined made a great instructor line-up! 

After a brief classroom presentation on boat handling and rules of the road by Peter Alarie we went to the waterfront in rather cold weather and strong breezes to practice docking, MOB, pivoting, slalom, and high speed exercises on various RIBs put at our disposal by Sam Wakeman, Brad Dellenbaugh, and Mike Reardon, with the assistance of Shaun Kilbride.  

Here are some of the practice maneuvers:

Initial goal was to build confidence in the student in his/her ability to control the boat. If possible group students with a more-experienced student in each group. Experienced sailors with little powerboat experience picked up powerboat handling very rapidly.

Docking.

We used docks at Fort Adams for this practice. We practiced forward and backwards docking.

Planing.

a. Instructor selects buoy in safe area. b. Starting 100 yards away student maneuvers boat onto a plane and proceeds toward the buoy at high speed. c. When abeam the buoy student smartly reduces power to idle while quickly turning the wheel toward the buoy. It is important to turn the boat away from the wake or it might swamp the boat, especially a RIB.d. When 90 degrees to original course shift to neutral.

Crew Overboard and Person in the Water Recovery

a. Each boat is either equipped with a simulated person (Oscar) for the crew overboard or improvises a simulated person with an object floating in the water recovery drill. b. The first phase is the crew overboard portion. Oscar is dropped in the water and student swings stern away while dropping floating objects such as a Type IV PFD. c. In the second phase the student maneuvers the boat to position 3 - 5 boat lengths directly down wind of the PIW. From this position the student commences a controlled approach using minimum control speed. The speed should be such that reverse is not required. d. The student positions the person on the side designated while the boat drifts to a stop alongside. e. The engine is shut down with the ignition and the PIW is tethered while being brought to a position of recovery (ladder etc.).

One of the instructors – Captain Fetherston, made us practice the Navy’s Williamson turn, illustrated in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9wHi3GTnl4

Pivot Turn.

Student turns the boat for 180 degrees using pivot turn procedures while remaining in an area no greater than twice the length of the boat.

Constant Bearing/Collision Avoidance

a.Selected two mooring buoys at 45 degrees to planned approach course. Buoys need to be widely spaced. Distance depends whether drill will be conducted at high speed or slow speed. b.The maneuvering boat starts at one of the buoys and proceeds along a prescribed course at right angles to the course prescribed for the stand-on boat. c.The stand on boat starts at the other buoy to starboard of the approach course and proceeds along its prescribed. These courses may be set either by compass or a point toward which to steer. d.The maneuvering boat alters course as necessary to maintain a constant bearing approach and then as the boats near maneuvers to pass astern. e.The maneuvering boat then proceeds to the stand-on start buoy to act as the stand-on boat.

Slalom/Avoidance Turn

a. High speed With our to six buoys in a row about 150 feet apart. Students proceed though the slalom while on the plane while avoiding hitting the buoys.

b. Slow Speed 4 - 6 buoys in a row about 3 boat lengths apart. Students proceed though the slalom at slow speed while avoiding hitting the buoys. Use pivot point to swing stern clear.

Constant Radius Turn a.With two buoys (moorings at Harbour Court) six or seven boat lengths apart. Students pass first buoy on a course perpendicular to the line between the two buoys.

b.At a point one boat length past the first buoy commence a turn with as close to constant radius a possible to arrive one boat length from the other buoy on a course perpendicular to the line between the two buoys.

Judging from the response of all participants, there was appetite for more of the same and beyond in future trainings, including practicing rescues during regattas.

In this website of US Powerboating you can see one of the maneuvers we practiced, the pivot turn in close quarters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0rUJkuloD4

* * *