There is no way a fiberglass sailboat is putting a hole in a steel ferry. Also by colreg the saling vessel under sails is the stand on vessel it was the OBLIGATION of the ferry to give way (change course) to whatever extent is needed to avoid the collision. Still colreg aside it is obvious that the sailing vessel is in distress and means even more so the ferry should have altered course to avoid. That is just common sense. If there is a vessel in distress out of control the vessel in control takes any and all actions to avoid a collision. The ferry was negligent but he did honk his horn a lot.
Shame on the captain to not avoid a boat that has no control. Shame on the fairy that could have cost lives. No matter if they have rights you must always avoid especially with the vessel is no under control and you are really sad to see honestly 😢
He is not near a lee shore, little traffic on the harbour from what can see in lots of ways he is doing the right thing (shame the ferry was there). Southerlies often moderate a little after the initial blast, ride it out, and then drop the sails. Have sailed on Sydney Harbour for about 60 years. Not an appeal to aurthority, lol, just my experience. The yacht looks to be in no immediate danger, sans ferry, santana 22s are a very seaworthy boat. Designed by Gary Mull.
Looks like a sudden squall during a race, look at the sky. Should have hove to on the other tack. But probably would have destroyed the genoa. Things probably happened a bit fast. Looks like they only scraped it.
The ferry has a "priority of other traffic signal" hoisted at all times. If it wants to go somewhere it will. Also thats a freshwater class ferry, and it takes quite a while to move one of them.
Skipper of the sailboat had way to much sail up for the conditions. In that wind at most an experienced Skipper would only have minimal main sail up and no jib. But he will learn.
Yes does to me too, I own one. Small but strong boat. Looks like he got caught in a southerly buster near the Heads, Sydney Harbour. Not easy to reef in that strength breeze in most sailing boats.
@@penguinwhoosh I owned one for a couple years on the SF bay. Great boat. Looks like this skipper should have pulled in his main to gain some speed and then jibe
With as much sail as the skipper was flying, the gust front must have just hit. Really, there is not much he could have done. Falling off would have been dicey. Getting way to tack would have been difficult in short notice. A bit of fiberglass work, a new spinniker pole, and a new jib, and they'll be back in business.
A bit unhappy with that ferry captain. The yacht was clearly not under command with the sails all off in a big gust. Either she wouldn't luff up, or steering gone. They were heading straight for the scene of the accident. The ferry could have bore away unless there was another vessel or obstruction to leeward.
Tiller snapped off. Can't fall off. Sails all the way out, trying to depower. if they knew how to sail better they would have sheeted in the jib only and the boat would be pulled down wind. I teach how to sail without a rudder for this very reason. #Hoofersailing
Wrong! Most Sydney Harbour Ferries always display an orange diamond, which is the 'Priority over sail' signal... All sailing vessels must keep well clear of any Ferry that displays that signal
The jib is the front sail and the sail itself started to RIP itself apart in the winds flapping the way it did. When the sails flap around so much the sails will slide against the cables that hold them in place and it acts like a saw. Something will give and thats what that looks like under thosr conditions. If you ever grab a piece of toilet paper and tear it to bits. Thats what the wind is doin to the 'jib'
That boat needed to sheet in the main a tad and head to wind. Even if they risked a knockdown. They clearly didn’t know what they were doing. Not a reef in sight for a Gale 😅
Ferry should have passed behind. Vessels under motor must yield to vessels under sail, and under sail yield to manpowered. At least in the USA that's the law, ferry's responsible for the collision
Nope. On Sydney Harbour there is a special law just for ferries. All small boat skippers know this. The ferry has Right of Way. This is just common sense. It is a lot easier for a tiny sailing boat to pull away or pull to, than for a huge vessel like a ferry travelling at speed to suddenly change its direction. Nevertheless our harbour sees a lot of exciting near misses on boatrace days, as the weekly sailing races are run right across the ferry lanes.The yacht skippers will challenge themselves to slip past the bow of a passing ferry, so as not to lose precious seconds in the race. It is super thrilling to watch this up close from a ferry deck on race day. The yachts also have to cross the path of massive cruise ships leaving and entering the harbour; again, big ships always have right of way.
Weather helm. He can't turn, due to the massive amounts of pressure on the sails from the strong wind. He may not have been able to slack the jib and that prevents him from steering starboard to the right. Once he gets it slacked or it rips, he may not have had the momentum to tack right and the mainsail could have them preventing him from jibing to port.
Weather helm normally forces you towards the wind, not away. If they sheeted that full main in a little with a flogging jib they would have headed to wind come rain or by rudder action or pivoting around the sunken Lee rail 😂
Closest to a comment I can agree with. I was in a similar situation in a dinghy except it was the shore. The guy helming had tried and failed twice to get about and we were in the shallows surrounded by rocks. As it was my dinghy I jumped out 😂
Looked like he threw a anchor,but the sail mast looked like a joisting pole. Dont drive a boat if you aren't competent anough to navigate around anough to avoid a obstacle.derp.
Except when overtaking, or a power vessel not under command, or a power vessel restricted in ability to manouvre, or a power vessel constrained by draft, or a power vessel fishing..... etc, etc.
If you really are a sailboat owner you know fronts come in faster than expected, stronger than predicted..or not predicted at all and ALL faster than the 6 knots kr so top speed of the boat...it's near certain by the lack of foul weather gear for all the tourists that the weather is just turning bad and wasn't when they started.
@@norml.hugh-mann As a responsible, safety minded sailor I read as many wind/weather reports as possible and would not take my boat out on a day like this.
