Pete Goss’ column on tether safety
A reminder on the importance of clipping on is always valuable. However there is no mention of where the jackstays are – if they are on the side decks they are lethal. There have been a number of deaths caused by people going through the rails and being dragged. The stays need to be on the top of the cabin roof, run to the mast and then to the forestay. Clipped on, one cannot go overboard. After owning boats for some 40 years I now charter. I always bring rope with me and rig my jackstays to keep my crew safe.
Orca attacks reporting
I have just read the YM article on the Atlantic circle. The article focuses on the east to west crossing, which is a very different beast to a west to east crossing. East to west is a downwind sail with relatively benign conditions, excepting squalls, depending upon the month of departure. The return sail, to complete the circle, is through much rougher conditions due to the low pressure systems at the latitudes of the westerlies (at least that has been my experience), and sail choice needs to be made accordingly – i.e heavy weather sails.
My main concern with the article is the section about orcas. There are ‘statistics’ offered that claim a 1/5,000 chance of being sunk, but then goes on to say ‘the odds of getting caught up in a lobster pot along the same stretch of coastline are far, far higher, potentially with similar disabling consequences to your typical orca attack’.
It is unlikely that getting tangled in a lobster pot will sink a boat and it is unlikely that a lobster pot will snap the rudder off. The statistics are a mixture of different circumstances and therefore misleading. I would venture to say that the majority of attacks never get reported. There is no organised official reporting process run by the Salvamento in either Portugal or Spain, and many victims of attacks do not detail their experiences. I personally know of four boats that were attacked and none reported the incidents. Seven boats were attacked off A Coruña within a couple of days. I asked one victim if any were reported and he said as far as he knew, none of them were. He was on the hard after having a new rudder installed. His wife now point blank refuses to sail off either Spain or Portugal such was her trauma.
I spoke to the skipper of a 63ft Swan that was attacked outside Gibraltar – they did not report it. In Muros seven boats (again) were towed in during the last summer’s months. How many of those were reported is unknown.
I know of one skipper who has done two Whitbreads and multiple single-handed Atlantic crossings. He was attacked by orcas and said he had never been so scared in his life.
This is a much bigger problem than your article makes it out to be. Sailing up or down the Iberian coast, and now even Biscay, is a stressful undertaking and readers s
