Battery fire sure seems likely, since weather did not seem to be the issue. I am assuming that when they stopped showing up or contacting their people on shore they were reported as missing. Was any effort made to find them between June 18 ( last contact) to July 2 (overdue in Azores)?

One of their videos showed the man sucking sea water out of the bilge with a shop vac and then Sarah mentioned a leak below the water line. May not be relevant but...

4:55 Past tense of sink is sank, not sunk.

I don’t know these folks. It’s obvious they had some experience. As the narrator states “We will likely never know”. What we do know is things can go south in an incredibly short time. Sad.

Coast guard, do and fire departments showed up the day they rolled the boat over, off of Halifax , but when the hailed their S.O.S. they hailed it off for my harbour instead of Halifax harbor

Very sad, they found each other and had each other till the end no matter what the cause. Rest in peace, lovely people.

Your assumptions about the weight of the hard top (which appears to be made out of foam composite) and the solar panels implying that it was going to affect stability is nonsense. As someone said, their water tanks would be full, their supplies full and modern day boats or this type are just not that tippy. God knows what has happened to these people, fire, hitting something. They were clearly experienced-- a very sad story.

Diy is great but what's beautiful in port or on the lake crumbles like paper matchet at sea.... Solar youth in Asia, so sad

The news today reported they may have been run over by a larger ship. No one knows at this point and your speculation is a bit over the top.

Leaf battery is absolutely the wrong type of battery for a boat. I've worked with them in non-marine applications. LFP batteries are much safer.

Knowing the social and economic state of Nova Scotia it was likely they encountered pirates. Their boat is probably headed for the Carribean.

Of all the many safety improvements made over the last one hundred years, one could make a case for diesel engines being the most important. Before their introduction, sailboats were vulnerable to the vagaries of wind and tide, leading to frequent tragegies. And a 40ft boat would probably be capable of carrying enough fuel for a range of 500 NM or more, even in difficult weather. By contrast, an electric driven sailboat has negligible range and limited power - fine for entering and exiting a local marina on a sunny day but not for venturing into challenging crossings.

If they were using a Lithium Ion battery (rather than (LiFePO4), then fire is a possible explanation but the most likely cause would still be weather. They were taking the northern route (rather than the more common Bermuda to Azores) route, so route planning and weather forecasting is critical, at any time of year.

They did seem well prepared, the only apparent omission would be the lack of an EPIRB located above deck where it could float free if the yacht sank. If true it seems odd that they wouldn’t have had that given the other emergency equipment they had. Hopefully there will be some answers in the not too distant future. A sad loss.

A lot of wild speculation here....I understand wanting to know, and I want to know, but such speculation is not really helpful or respectful.

I still think that they probably hit a container. Mainly because they didn't get time to grab anything. If you hit a container 6 + knots that would be enough to take the whole bow out. Think of the confusion, middle of the night, bang you are thrown to the floor the boat is still moving forward and the boat is starting to sink from the bow down. If you are lucky you will get max 3 minutes to grab your grab bag & get into your life raft. Obviously the boat went down too quick to get anything. A fire you would have longer as you would have smelt the fire in such a confined space.

In a YT video he says he was able to charge the batteries to 76 volts. Would be interesting to know how he configured the leaf batteries.

If it was a fire, it's far more likely that the yacht would have been seen in distress from a distance...... As it's a Gib Sea yacht, I'd say it the keel fell off.

Only LiFeSO4 are permitted for marine use; no other as they (not LiFeSO4) are non-extinguishable and inflammable in marine environments.

My condolences to the families of the deceased. They perished doing what they loved and that is better than living without ever having followed your dreams! RIP.

Looks like they abandoned ship, quickly, no time too grab provisions. One, collision Two possibility of piracy. It would have to be a catastropic battery failure, for them to abandon the vessel that quickly. Lithium can be dangerous and releases alot of energy when it blows up. Just like diesal or gas tho. Poor people, out there giving it there best, condolences too family and friends.

sad state of affairs.

I think your assessment of the batteries catching fire is the likely scenario. I find think the seas were off a significant condition to cause capsize even with the mods.

What ever happened it was quick! From when they were found should have easily been survivable for a captain with a plan a ditch bag. Solar panels unstable? Probably not. Lithium fire? Possible. There would be no chance against that. Does anyone know if they were found in liferaft or dingy?

I watch a few sailing channels BUT by no means does that remotely make me someone who should be speculating on what happened? I do find it interesting that with so many things that can go wrong when ocean sailing that in this video as well as in the comments section conclusions are so heavily drawn? R.I.P. to this couple and I hope they were able to spend time together (did they both make the raft alive?) as life horribly slipped from there bodies. Question: Would the pop out life raft (not the dingy) have carried provisions in it and most importantly H2O? 🤔 lots of details at this point missing that will most likely lead us to the cause of this horrible tradgedy? Travel Safe YT sailors.

*EPIRB* was *_mounted inside?!!_* There surely should be some clear inspection of such ...

I think it is unlikely that the modifications would have sufficiently impacted stability (bearing in mind the boat over 2000kg of ballast, carried low down) to prevent in self righting in a rollover or knockdown. However whether anyone who installed a large air cooled lithium ion battery in a marine application ensure the installation would survive an inversion is another matter.

So sorry to see this. I worked with Sarah in South Sudan back in the 1990's with Save the Children Fund. They lived life full on.

I felt the tone and some of the wording of this video to be bit untasteful if I'm honest. Also some of the possible conclusions are a touch on the absurd side. The dodger and solar, I very much doubt would have affected the stability to such a degree as you imply.

In a recent video he said removing the diesel engine and fuel tanks amounted to 2000 lbs. He said the replacement Nissan Leaf motor and battery added back 500 lbs . He went on to say this resulted in a bow down imbalance from the anchor and chain. To counter this he moved the zodiac from the front deck to the swim platform. He also purchased 600 lb of anchor chain for the aft chain locker. He said that should balance the boat but cant find any other later references to how well that worked or handling. He also removed the rear mast to install the solar panels.

Regarding the comments about weight distribution, following removal of a diesel engine and replacement with a Leaf battery pack: A typical Yanmar is 200kg; the Leaf battery pack alone is 300KG. If anything replacement would have increased gross weight, not reduced OR redistributed it.

I took photos of Theros as it was moored in Ives Cove, off McNabs Island. The photos were taken between 1.12pm and 3.44pm June 11 2024. If the Theros set off from Dartmouth Yacht Club then why was it moored as above. And why would it set off on a lengthy oceanic journey some time after 3.44pm (as opposed to departing in the morning)?

Thanks for the sincere analysis and not fingerpointing. Very very respectful and we all can learn a lor from this unfortunate event.

As someone who did an electric conversion on a 40 foot bluewater sailboat. Not that it is the cause but they absolutely chose the wrong battery. You never chose a Lithium ion battery..you chose LiFePo4 batteries or if you can afford them..lithium titanate. Too many people chose the wrong battery and it gives all lithium batteries a bad name.

I'd be interested to know why so much solar was installed as it seems like much more than would have been needed by two people on a small sailboat.

Very sad, my condolences to their families. Rest in Peace

Sorry for the loss of this wonderful couple, my heart goes out to their families and friends

Whatever the reason two lovely people are gone I hope they did not suffer and are sailing up on high looking down on us all condolences to family and friends............

AIS Pirates. Audio! Sounds like your talking down a telephone line!!!

Those solar panels have nothing to do with their plight! While they do have an effect it is negligible it would never cause the sailboat to capsize!!! You are reaching far…

Who knows , through hull , slip overboard with injury and attempted rescue , mystery I guess

What does the AIS track show?

Unless you have a halon system most people couldn't fight a lithium fire on land, let alone at sea. Then combine it with the flashpoint of resin it's a death trap.

If they had a battery fire that a huge problem.Water is fuel for lithium fires.

Yes, thank you for your analysis. My heart goes out to their families, and to the 2 poor souls who didn't make it. :-( They loved to sail, and it got them. The sea is so dangerous. I also think it was a battery fire. The intense heat and suddenness of it would be overwhelming, and making it into any dinghy would have been difficult. If commenters would like to see a lithium car battery on fire, try googling China Electric vehicle fires, and you will be shocked at the size of the inferno ... it's so scary.

So you’re just guessing and of course you pick the most dramatic failure. There are lots of possibilities.

Thanks for your insights. At the beginning, your tone of voice is inconsistent with announcing the death of two souls and could you check the spelling of their names at the end please.

The battery fire theory makes sense. In an abandon-ship situation these experienced sailors would have been in their life raft, unless something prevented them reaching it, like the boat was on fire. They took to the dinghy because it was being towed and was not ablaze. Lack of an EPIRB activation is puzzling but also explainable. In any case RIP and hopefully in their deaths the couple taught us all something

Well done video. I saw the news clip on this and have wondered what happened. I see the small Honda generator and gas cans on the deck in that video. I hope they didn’t have a mishap trying to use that rest in peace sailors.

good investigative thinking.