Solo yachtsman rescued off Great Barrier Island

[NYCKiwi]

Hmmm, I'm wondering if the following might sadly be related to the recently completed John Welsford Sundowner design built by Charles Whipple (the build of which was detailed on John's website):



A man sailing solo from Tauranga to Honolulu was plucked to safety by a rescue helicopter after his yacht struck rocks off Auckland this morning.


Search and Rescue mission co-ordinator Mike Roberts said the American yachtie, who lives in Japan, activated his emergency beacon just after 6am and was winched to safety by the Westpac Trust Rescue Helicopter.

"It was still dark, but we were able to pinpoint the beacon to a bay on the north-east of Great Barrier Island."

The man was taken to police rescue headquarters in Auckland.

Mr Roberts said the 6.5m American registered yacht, Resolution, was "high and dry", and had sustained significant damage.

"This was a good result, and shows once again the importance of carrying a 406MHz distress beacon, which gave us immediate identification of the casualty vessel," Mr Roberts said.

[StevenBauer]

Oh no... Charlie's boat was named Resolution. I'm afraid this is him. At least he's safe.

Steven

[P.L.Lenihan]

Oh ****! I think you may be correct Steven,even though I sincerely hope not.....damnit all to blazes

Peter

[Kaa]

Highly unfortunate :-(

Background: http://www.smallcraftadvisor.com/con...wner/index.htm

Kaa

[NYCKiwi]

There's a video of the boat rolling in the surf here - quite disturbing really:

http://tinyurl.com/57oao6

[JimD]

Oh dear. Doesn't seem to be anything new on the blog: http://tokyowest.typepad.com/

[dhic001]

There's a video of the boat rolling in the surf here - quite disturbing really:

http://tinyurl.com/57oao6

Can anyone identify where it actually is? My knowledge of Barrier isn't good enough to be able to pin point the exact location, doesn't look comfortable, thats for certain.
Daniel

[Paul Fitzgerald]

She has her storm jib and trysail set, it must be blowing around there.

[John B]

There's been a series of fronts coming through since saturday. Gale warning sat, wind warning today and that'll be upgraded tomorrow I expect.


edit.
Hell, thats hard to watch.
I'll look at the news tonight.. in about half an hour.

[rufustr]

Terrible to watch.
Glad Charles Whipple is safe.

[dhic001]

Painful to watch on the news. Apparently happened while he was asleep. A very lucky man though, without that 406 beacon he'd be dead, no doubt.
Daniel

[seanz]

What a nightmare and a great shame too.
I just watched the news footage and he's lucky to be alive. The helicopter rescue crew did a good job getting him off the rocks.

[Kaa]

What was he doing there, anyway? On the north-EAST coast?

He was out of Tauranga and said (http://tokyowest.typepad.com/) he was going to head 020. That's not that close to the Great Barrier Island -- did his autopilot/self-steering gear fail?

Kaa

[dhic001]

Did they say 80 thousand dollar boat? Would be interesting to know if he had an autopilot, and if he was using it at the time. Many a ship has hit Barrier, but most of them were before modern navigation aids.
Daniel

[seanz]

Bugger.

[Paul G.]

What was he doing there? that is one ugly stretch of lee shore. I hate to say it but it looks like he screwed the pooch.

[Banjo]

John W in his forums has just informed us he has spoken to Charlie at length on the phone, he is in remarkably good spirits considering the ordeal.
John will be posting some more information a bit later.
Avoid speculation folks until we get some solid information.

[John B]

News article( same video footage ) said he was asleep and he got off and up onshore by himself. So the epirb stopped him getting cold.
Its all north east coast around here.

[John B]

another boat found drifting , not so lucky this time,skipper lost after a capsize by the sounds..
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/...ectid=10517967

[John B]

Another short newspaper article about Charles Whipple .

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/...ectid=10517972

[Concordia...41]

Definitely a painful video to watch, but a great advertisement / reminder of the value of colored storm sails.

[Paul G.]

Very sad, especially since he put 2 years of his life into it. I dont know the whole story but if he got in to trouble off Northland why didnt he run into Whangarei, or the Bay or even into the Gulf. To head all the way back to Tauranga in front of Barrier in a northeasterly blow???

[John B]

I missed that part, is that what he was doing, going back?
Have you heard exactly where he went up, up by the needles somewhere?

[Paul G.]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/...ectid=10517972

Mr Whittle left Tauranga last Wednesday in the 6.5m Resolution for Honolulu.
But he struck bad weather off the Northland coast, and had a fuel leak, so he turned back to Tauranga.
An American who lives in Japan, he came to New Zealand specifically to have his boat made for his long-awaited solo voyage.
"I was on my way back under auto-pilot so to speak ... I had something to eat and then went to sleep but woke up to this loud banging."
It was dark at 4am and he thought it was just the waves. But when he got up, he saw the island up close and the rudder smashed. He turned the engine on and tried to move but the yacht was too damaged.

[Paul G.]

This is where he was on the 21 June, he wrecked on the 23rd.

He was apparently heading for Tauranga, somewhat south. As you can see its an ugly place for a small boat to sail into in a blow. Theres big islands and lots of little ones to hit. I am wondering why he didnt stand off until the weather improved or lay for Tauranga from his last known position.


From John Welsfords last communication

I got the first progress report today, 35.20 South, 176.31 East, that’s not so far from clearing New Zealand altogether and a good 80 miles offshore, good progress for a small boat in very light weather , we’re all following him with full hearts.

I just wish he had of kept on going and repaired in Fiji. I also want to dissect what happened so that I wont make that mistake if I am ever in his situation. Such a shame to have an epic journey stopped but Resolution may be salvagable? Theres a lot of tough fishermen on Barrier who may have already pulled her off for the salvage fee.

[Farmer Diddley]

Charlie has posted a comment on his blog:

http://tokyowest.typepad.com/charlies_blog/

[John B]

Thanks Paul ( I must have skim read that bit) and FD.
I just feel so sorry for the guy , and John. Its really been quite atrocious weather out there for the last week. I was supposed to go sailing on our sail training vessel Spirit of NZ on sun but that was cancelled due to the gale warning. And it was north easters.

[Gary E]

Solo ???
WHY ???
Couldnt find another fool to go with him???

Atleast he's alive..

[Tylerdurden]

Solo ???
WHY ???
Couldnt find another fool to go with him???

Atleast he's alive..

George 2

[Tylerdurden]

Thats just awful. I hope he gets a second chance at it.

[Sailman58]

Charlie's own account of the accident is on Duckworks this morning.
http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/

Ron

[hansp77]

Charlie's own account of the accident is on Duckworks this morning.
http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/

Ron

Thanks for that.
A good and sad read.

[Duncan Gibbs]

That's so sad!

[PatCassidy]

Sailing solo around the world with a boat that did not had adequate sea trials in appropriate weather conditions. Running into a continent while asleep in his bunk. Hmm.....

[seanz]

Sailing solo around the world with a boat that did not had adequate sea trials in appropriate weather conditions. Running into a continent while asleep in his bunk. Hmm.....

Nothing like running into an island to call a bloke's navigation into question.........but he was 2000kms clear of the nearest continent.

[PeterSibley]

He's alive !! First and most important thing .Also Second and third .Sh!t happens , but being alive is GOOD !

I was impressed with the visibility of the red sails .

[Larry P.]

Solo ???
WHY ???
Couldnt find another fool to go with him???

Because he knows there is more to life than sitting in front of a keyboard criticizing others, you ass.

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Because he knows there is more to life than sitting in front of a keyboard criticizing others, you ass.

Yup, well said Larry.

I feel for him. There before the grace of God go all of us who tempt wind, fate and seas. Wont be the first nor the last vessel to fall upon the rocks.

Vale Resolution


Glad the captain came out of it alive.

[George Roberts]

I agree with Gary E and those of similar ilk.

I certainly hope Mr. Wipple offers to pay for the rescue.

[hoz]

A heartbreaking outcome. As one who followed along with Charles Whipple during the construction of Resolution I am glad he is safe.

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

I agree with Gary E and those of similar ilk.

I certainly hope Mr. Wipple offers to pay for the rescue.

Who cares what you think

[George Roberts]

"Who cares what you think"

You seem to take an unhealthy interest in my activities and I suspect in my opinions.

[Larry P.]

I agree with Gary E and those of similar ilk.

I certainly hope Mr. Wipple offers to pay for the rescue.

I hope you have to pay for the investigation and prosecution of the crime you committed when you killed the dog.

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

"Who cares what you think"

You seem to take an unhealthy interest in my activities and I suspect in my opinions.

If you really want to know what I think ? - Your a psychopath that should be banned from society.

YOU KILLED THAT DOG YOU KNOW YOU DID AND YOU CAN LIVE WITH YOURSELF YOU ARE A PATHETIC LITTLE LITTLE MAN. There thats what I think of you.

You should have heard what EVERYONE at the WBS thought of you. You would be HORRIFIED

[crawdaddyjim50]

Hey George, STFU WOW! you are beyond stupid. I am beginning to see where Joe may be right. Man you are sad......

[J. Dillon]

Watched that video. Heartbreaking to say the least. To watch a vessel die is agony to anyone. I can imagine what the owner skipper feels.

I eye witnessed a few my self back in the 60"s When a few hurricanes skirted NY . I had a cruising boat myself then moored E. City Island NY. One 30' ketch broke loose and came on the rocks of Rat island . It didn't take long to turn into match wood.

Almost like watching some one die.

JD

[john welsford]

I'd respectfully point out that the boat had done several short coastal voyages and a number of daysails with myself on board to assist with assessement and preparation, including one overnight sail in particular in conditions that were very rough indeed. The boat itself was performing fine, but its very hard to handle a boat at sea in rough conditions when the interior, and increasingly the decks outside are extremely slippery with diesel hence the decision to turn back to where his freinds and support were. Also he did not have charts for the Northland harbours but did have the chart for Tauranga and the area surrounding.
That fuel tank by the way was an off the shelf Vetus 65 litre tank, with all Vetus fittings, checked out by the engineer who did the final comissioning of the engine, and which had shown no sign of leaks to that point.

To those who are critical, think how you would perform when trying to plot an accurate position on a large scale chart with your boat interior coated in diesel, at night in storm conditions with 3 to 5 m swells running.
Yes he made a mistake, but so do we all, the difference being that most of us dont have to pay that sort of price.

JohnW

Sailing solo around the world with a boat that did not had adequate sea trials in appropriate weather conditions. Running into a continent while asleep in his bunk. Hmm.....

[john welsford]

Charlie and I spent the afternoon at the Westpac Helicopter Rescue Centre on wednesday, http://www.rescuehelicopter.org.nz/ and had a long debrief with the crew and mission controller. They were very forthcoming with information which will feature in several magazine articles that will appear in the near future, and very keen to put forward the suggestion that anyone sailing beyond daysailing range should carry a 406 personal locator beacon. That beacon put the helicopter overhead only 40 minutes after the beacon was activated, time which included making the decision to send a chopper rather than a boat, and breifing the chopper crew as to location, terrain and weather. Note that its a 30 minute flight from the base to the wreck site. Exceptionally efficient work.
The 406 beacon is way more effective than previous EPIRB systems and from my point of view it would pay to carry one when I am out voyaging.
Same applies to trampers or anyone out in the wilds on their own or in very small groups where communication is an issue.

On paying for the rescue, the organisation does not send out bills, but I do know that there has been a donation made.


JohnWelsford

I agree with Gary E and those of similar ilk.

I certainly hope Mr. Wipple offers to pay for the rescue.

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Thank you for your posts John. Hopefully it will put to rest who do more typing than sailing.

[Dave R]

John, thank you for your comments. Along with Charlie's report on Duckworks it seems that the outcome was good considering the unfortunate collection of events that came together. I'm glad that Charlie was rescued. The group that resuced him are indeed an efficient group. Kudos to them. And kudos to Charlie for being prepared and keeping a level head in a tough situation.