Sailors Lost in Mexico

[Skag]

Let’s hope these folks show up in San Diego. I can’t help but wonder if foul play occurred. The sailboat and crew appear to be capable of the weather that occurred.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/3-missing-sailors-encountered-20-foot-seas-mexico/story?id=98631258

Edit - I just realized this was back in April. Does anyone know if they found these sailors alive?

 

[NaClyDog]

To the best of my knowledge, neither they nor their vessel was found.

 

[mvweebles]

Lat 38 had best write up. Does not appear there was an update. Boat and crew are presumably lost at sea. Statement from family.

https://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/ocean-bound-family-statement/

Peter

 

[Hippocampus]

Several thoughts come to mind.
Yes Perry hasn’t drawn a bad boat but there’s no details about that boat. We don’t know what repairs and quality of execution.
I know that design and she’s a decent sea boat but not as weatherly as newer designs. General rule of thumb is you add 30 to 50% to your passage time and distances if the transit is a beat throughout depending upon the boat, sails, and crew. We know very little about the details of each.
It’s noteworthy to me that apparently there was no epirb, PLBs, Satphone call or breadcrumbs. This suggests that either this was a shoestring affair or absence of a knowledgeable crew.
Weather reported in available post links is not survival weather. In fact not that unusual during a significant passage. But usually experienced >5 d out with prior warning of at least 3-4d. One wonders about their weather routing.
Personally would have little trouble with a second reefed Solent and third reefed main on prior boat. Wouldn’t go to trysail and storm jib. Would fall off to ~50-60 degrees true to improve the ride and carry on. If short handed or hurt or just plumb tired would deploy the JSD, drop sails, go below and wait it out. One would not expect this reported event unless something untoward and not reported occurred.
That they experienced this weather at all raises the question about their choice of when to leave.
So this is a very sad event. Don’t think any conclusions, inferences or teachings can be learned from it.

 

[mvweebles]

According to this Latitude 38 article published shortly after they were reported missing, all three crew had significant sailing experience. In April, Force 7 conditions are fairly common - the underlayment for the oft-described "Baja Bash."

https://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lafitte-44-ocean-bound-missing-mexico/

Of course, all substantive information is lost forever, though I wonder what repairs they had in Mazatlan, and why they planned to provision in Cabo. But in the end, my takeaway is sometimes bad luck happens.

Peter

 

[Blissboat]

Of course, all substantive information is lost forever, though I wonder what repairs they had in Mazatlan, and why they planned to provision in Cabo. But in the end, my takeaway is sometimes bad luck happens.

Peter

Sometimes it does. It's hard to understand or accept when it happens to someone you know, and I imagine it's even harder to comprehend when you are the one it's happening to.

The sea is always beautiful, but it is utterly indifferent to what happens to you.

 

[SoWhat]

"According to the Coast Guard, the vessel would have experienced a gale with 30-plus knots of wind and 15-20 foot seas during the short 200 nm transit."

They were experienced sailors and most likely had an epirb but bad things can happen very quickly. Broach in 20' seas and you are toast.

 

[psneeld]

I wonder if there were lightning storms in that gale...maybe accounting for multiple failures.

 

[Hippocampus]

Thanks for the link Peter. Good boat and good sailors. Any information on whether they were able to get off a mayday in any form? One would think about micro burst, rogue wave, lightning strike, explosion or some other catastrophic overwhelming sudden event. My heart goes out to their loved ones.

 

[mvweebles]

I saw nothing further. They just disappeared.

Northbound, seas can be difficult in April, but not "survival-dangerous." As Hippocampus notes, Lafitte was a respected boat and the crew had decent experience. Rogue wave is a possibility, but there's a decent chance that boat would survive a rollover, or at least leave a detectable debris field. Not saying the crew would fair well. If memory serves, along this coast, rogue waves are more of a winter time event.

I have to assume they had an emergency transponder. Perhaps the batteries were dead vs speed of event overtook them.

A fire or propane explosion would certainly explain it as would a whale strike which have been known to sink a boat remarkably fast. Either would explain lack of debris field - nothing was found (not even dinghy, though it may have gone undetected in search).

Stories like these are sobering to me. Cruisers do a ton of preparation and yet something happened. What did they miss, if anything? What should I focus on....just in case?

Peter

 

[kthoennes]

I had the same thoughts as Peter -- it's one thing to shake our heads at losses at sea for reckless or inexperienced or ill-prepared or just plain boneheaded boaters, but those three had decades of experience and captain's licenses, and they even had the wisdom to add a third, I assume in part to ease the watches. Makes you think it had to be something quick and catastrophic as mentioned above, hit by a container ship or something -- although that would have left at least some debris, and I assume the CG and others would have checked commercial shipping trails. Wonder what the repairs were in Mazatlan. I don't know Robert Perry sailboat design but a quick google search, looks like the 41's around 1980 were all glassed in, not bolt-on.

 

[dannc]

Stories like these are sobering to me. Cruisers do a ton of preparation and yet something happened. What did they miss, if anything? What should I focus on....just in case?

Peter

Yes.

But sometimes you drive home, park in the driveway, get out of the car, and a tree falls on you.

This just happened in the past week and killed a young man.

Stuff happens.

Later,
Dan

 

[SteveK]

Something that prevented any survival action. Maybe CO overcame them, then swamped with no one at helm.

 

[psneeld]

There are many possibilities, some very sorrowful, others not so nice .

Some hard to comprehend, some not so accidental.

All speculation at this point unless someone has some pretty hard evidence.