17m charter boat snapped in half by freak wave

[Bel]

Amazing anyone survived, looking at the footage of the helicopter rescue. I don't fancy my chances clinging to that debris for 4 hours in 55 knot winds and 3m swells.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/30...harter-vessel-hit-by-rogue-wave-in-far-north/

 

[Benthic2]

Wow.....that must have been a heck of a wave to rip the roof off!!

 

[friz]

"Video not found" and Ghostery blocked 18 trackers!

 

[kthoennes]

Link to the video was broken for me too, but the rest of the article appeared. Boy, how does a rogue wave snap a hull in half?

 

[Gdavid]

Link to the video was broken for me too, but the rest of the article appeared. Boy, how does a rogue wave snap a hull in half?

I'm guessing the windows and window frames that provide much of the support for the flybridge failed upon impact and once flooded the boat crumpled.

Glass is very strong and adds a lot of the rigidity to a car, if you've ever worked around a body shop you can appreciate how much stiffness they provide but too much exposed glass in a boat with relatively weak frames is a risk. Here in the states, the early production sportfish boats had forward facing windows, the charter captains had them removed and replaced with wood and fiberglass, leaving the side windows as compromise. Very few sportfish boats have forward facing windows in the salon.

 

[Larry M]

Helicopter footage captures survivor being rescued from far north boat tragedy.


https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/30...vor-being-rescued-from-far-north-boat-tragedy

 

[friz]

Link to the video was broken for me too, but the rest of the article appeared. Boy, how does a rogue wave snap a hull in half?

The ships which amaze me are the Great Lake freighters. Length to beam ratio about 10:1! How in the heck they don't snap in half when the crest a wave is mid ship and with the bow and stern out of the water. Possibly at 1000' that wave period never happens. Sorry I missed the OP's video. I don't see a lot from the Kiwis.

 

[HTurner]

The ships which amaze me are the Great Lake freighters. Length to beam ratio about 10:1! How in the heck they don't snap in half when the crest a wave is mid ship and with the bow and stern out of the water. Possibly at 1000' that wave period never happens. Sorry I missed the OP's video. I don't see a lot from the Kiwis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edmund_Fitzgerald

 

[Benthic2]

 

[Rufus]

Does anyone recognize the manufacturer of that charter boat? This photo depicts it capsized, but not split in two. Notice where the props and rudders are located...looks like a hull extension was added at the stern. Wonder how that would impact directional stability and control in extremis...

 

[kthoennes]

Helicopter footage captures survivor being rescued from far north boat tragedy.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/30...vor-being-rescued-from-far-north-boat-tragedy

Wow, what a video. It's hard for me to tell though, is that the stern deck and little white shelf of swim platform still floating? In other words, the front half of the boat really is gone and the stern section is awash?

 

[Mac2]

View attachment 127457

Does anyone recognize the manufacturer of that charter boat? This photo depicts it capsized, but not split in two. Notice where the props and rudders are located...looks like a hull extension was added at the stern. Wonder how that would impact directional stability and control in extremis...

Great observation Rufus. Based on the statements made that the pilothouse was ripped off, I'm thinking "ripped in half" means the upper half was ripped off.

 

[friz]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edmund_Fitzgerald

I remember that day well. I was working oil exploration on the northern tip of the lower peninsula out of Rogers City, the Fitz's home port. The wind was howling all day but the sky was clear. No doubt part of the storm that took down the Fitz. Later in the evening I made it to the towns watering hole on the main street. When I walked in it was as quiet as a church. I asked someone "what was going on?" He responded "we have lost the Fitz".