Day 1 of the Hamilton Island Regatta in Australia brought us a bizarre application for redress. Here’s the first part of the “Facts Found” by the protest committee:
FACTS
1. On the leg from Pine Island to Little Lindeman Island a lifeline on First Light broke and 10 people went overboard,
(looked like about 5 crew went overboard – ed)
You say what? Ten crew went over the side from the TP52 First Light (left), all at the same time? Fortunately, everyone was recovered safely. Another yacht stood by and was then granted time reduction redress.
But more to the point (laying aside this worrying instance of lifeline failure – was it wire or Dyneema?) the bigger issue is how the crew could all be hiking out in a way that made their instant mass MoB inevitable.
Not so long ago (2009) World Sailing tightened the Offshore Special Regulations that prohibited anyone on the rail from putting their torso between the upper and lower lifelines. That ensured that their CoG was at least in a vertical plane. Now, everyone is poking their whole upper body outboard – even stretching out their arms.
It was a day race. The water at Hammo is warm and flat. But think what might have happened if that lifeline broke during the Sydney-Hobart, in a serious blow, at night.
