Australia : Navy closer to reaching stricken sailor

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Originally Posted by sabang

but pushed too hard thru' rough seas. I heard from a mate in RAN, it may need a hull inspection

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Originally Posted by sabang

This is a lot of shit to go through to rescue a Yachtsman, but I hope he'll be OK.

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If a ship isn't sea worthy to perform her dutys then she should be mothballed or scrapped instead of putting lives at risk.
And it seems to me that any countrys uniformed services should be at ready to save any property or lives of any human that needs their help,.
I would think that that would be the primary concern of most posters on this site, as most TD posters are liberals that think that any one shooting at anyone else or going into a country to help the people are at fault and truly wrong in doing so, but also do not want their military uniformed services to do and peace time humanitarian work either.
Some people are just hard to satisfy.

A job well done BG, and I'm glad about that.

But you obviously know nothing about seafaring. I know enough about seafaring to say that give me any Warship in a rough ocean, and I can break it's back. The Southern Ocean is damn rough- a normal swell exceeds your Freeboard. A bad swell can be more than your keel to your Bridge, by a considerable margin.

Maybe you should actually talk to some people that drive ships before commenting.

Been there, done that also,, is she sprung? does she take on an excessive amount of water? Is her shafts running out of line and do the shaft glands need to be adjusted often, does her shaft bearings seem to be running hot or do the thrusts seem to be running hot?
Doesn't sound to me that she has a broken back, shouldn't be so dramatic..
Just what do you base your prognosis on?

^ Dunno, just a fleet chief who was an old classmate says she may well need a hull inspection. You seem to have some lingo there, so I'll revert if I hear more.

Of course it's nowhere near like a broken back.

If the conditions were bad enough to bust up a Ozzie warship, how did the Frog manage the same sea in his little tuna can?

Seems like the daft saving the daft.

We're talking some popped rivets or a bent screw, maybe a compromised prop shaft flyboy. Stick to comm's.

The Commanding Officer of HMAS Arunta was quoted on the Vendee Globe website saying Elies was thought to also have broken ribs and some other injuries. "He's in good spirits though and he's just about to ring his wife," he said. He added that the rescue took about 45 minutes, including a search for Elies's passport which he had "hidden pretty well".




The rescues drew criticism because of the cost to the Australian taxpayer, but Vice Admiral Russ Crane said the navy had no hesitation in responding to the request to help Elies. "They are very experienced and diligent operators and no one knows the conditions in the Southern Ocean better than they do," said race director Denis Horeau.


BBC SPORT | Other sport... | Injured yachtsman rescued by navy

BG are you qualified, in any way, whatsoever, to comment authoritatively, on this whole scenario?

for a time they would have been pushing into a head sea faster than you would really want to . She would of fell off a few and that'll rattle ya teeth .

though I have never sailed the southern ocean all i can say is if you takeaway the technology and then this type of problem won't exist.

planning vessels with their speed are doomed are such seas

anyone want a nice, sleek slightly used sail boat? If you can get there before these others do, you own it, as it's abandoned in international waters and therefore legally free to salvage...
Just at thought if anyone's interested? :mid:

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Originally Posted by Mid

"He's in good spirits though and he's just about to ring his wife,"

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That would be the last thing on my mind after being rescued...she'd have to wait.

^^,Yes, Maybe, but some of the solo/singlehanders carry for company a cat, it that is the case and they left it aboard with a box of kibble then you are fucked if you think it is going to be easy unless you drown the cat and can prove it was not aboard when you got there.

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Originally Posted by jandajoy

BG are you qualified, in any way, whatsoever, to comment authoritatively, on this whole scenario?

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During my life I have carried USCG licenses for both Deck and Engine, Never large enough to have been an officer on that ship in full capacity, but maybe only a 3rd mate or 3rd assistant engr. I do not know the Tonnage or Horsepower of that ship..
As well I had merchant mariners papers called a "Z" card which allows for employment aboard US Merchant Vessels of any size or use and I have sailed in all oceans of the world.

And as Sabang said, it is never good to drive a ship to hard for conditions, but these were trying times and things had to be done that maybe did put the machinery into jeopardy, but a human life was at stake and no machine is ever worth a life.

I also did spend a hitch in the USCG as a young man in search and rescue and we did drive a ship to the limits sometimes when conditions were not ideal and it is damn hard on men and machinery, but that is what they are built and trained for.

Long way down
Friday, 19 December 2008

The location of Yann Eliés yacht can be seen in the Vendee racetracker below (the two yachts together). A long way south! You can also see Ecover (the northern most boat) on its way to Fremantle.

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freodoctor.com.au

Elies serious but stable after sea rescue
Sun Dec 21 2008

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Yann Elies is in a serious but stable condition.
(AAP)

Injured round-the-world yachtsman Yann Elies is in a serious condition aboard Australian frigate HMAS Arunta after being rescued in the Indian Ocean on Saturday night.

The French solo yachtsman was taken off his 18 metre yacht Generali by crew members of the Arunta who had boarded by using an inflatable boat while the ship remained 200 metres clear of the yacht.

A Defence Department spokesman said Elies had a broken left femur and was in a serious but stable condition.

The Arunta's captain, Commander Stephen Bowater, said his crew had displayed exceptional professionalism during the two days to reach the French sailor who was competing in the Vendee Globe round-the-world race.

Elies was badly injured when he fell to the deck while changing sails in heavy seas 1,200km south-west of Perth on Thursday.

Cmdr Bowater told the Vendee Globe website that his crew only had a few hours warning to get the ship operational before it left Fremantle on Friday morning on its rescue voyage.

"We have proven again that the Navy constantly maintains the ability to respond at short notice to emergency situations," Cmdr Bowater said.

He said Elies is receiving excellent medical care from the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) doctor on board and is resting comfortably.

Fellow Vendee Globe yachtsman Marc Guillemot, who had left the race to give morale support to Elies and witnessed the rescue, described the Arunta's crew as "highly professional".

"They prepared Yann for the transfer - still heavy swell but they carried out the manoeuvre perfectly," Guillemot said.

"It was like a dream - it didn't seem real. They took care of that magnificently."

Guillemot, who suffered two broken legs at sea in 1985 when his catamaran capsized, said he told Elies during his ordeal to remain patient "and not behave like I did".

Guillemot now intends to rejoin the race.

Elies' boat was left sailing slowly northwards under minimal sail and away from the track of the worst of the low pressure systems.

A crew from Team Generali have left for Australia to go aboard a motor launch which will take them out to the area, and they will sail her back to shore.

news.ninemsn.com.au

I love my sailing and am very interested in yacht design. New technologies in every sport go on to help some other commercial enterprise and in some cases such as the motor racing industry, help save lives with positive developments in car engineering etc. However, apart from the practical testing of new materials, these enlarged 18' skiffs do very little for safety at sea apart from showing the general public what not to do. Oh, and our navy gets a bit of practice and I suppose employment of that asset may as well be in a life saving role, rather than just buggerising around protecting our fisheries from plundering illegal fishermen.

This part of the ocean is certainly a challenge, but 44 degrees south is no place for an oversized surfboard with a wobbly keel. I don't oppose any person putting the goolies on the line and having a bit of adventure, but this rescue business is becoming a regular occurance. Perhaps these people who want to "challenge" the world's oceans on oversized windsurfers could contribute to a rescue fleet that could perhaps follow them. Perhaps they could pay for the fuel and the vessels as those competitors and sponsors of the Hobart race do.

I'm sure the navy blokes loved the job and the drama provided the sponsors of this race lots of publicity, but lets get real, what else has been achieved whilst risking lives?

double edged sword ain't it , Navy went 'cause they where asked

wonder what the alternative would bring ?

I do not know in this instance, But the USCG will not do a damn thing anymore unless you are in danger of lost life or property and will call a marine service to come and bring you fuel, tow your ass in if you breakdown and will do nothing for free anymore that used to be standard practice when I was in that service.

I had a 40 foot Chris Craft catch fire up in the San Juan's and I called for help, they sent a commercial marine salvage co. to put out the fire and when the boat went down I paid for the assistance and the cleanup of what was left floating.

I was at sea in a cruising sailboat 36 hours out Of San Diego heading for Hilo and was hailed by a Navy Vessel and they put a boat in the water in a bout a 5 foot chop on a large swell and USCG crewmen boarded my boat, kept me and my crew in the cockpit with guns pointed in our direction and tore all my stores and supplies to hell and searched my boat and then left things a mess and took the rest of the day to get back in shape and most of the plastic packaging was ruined and things open to the damp and weather, so as far as I can see the USA and the USCG can kiss my ass.
If we had been a drug smuggler then we were heading in the wrong direction to be hauling into the USA, so there was just no reason for them to have done that, and we were outside of US territorial waters and my boat was documented in Sweden and flying a swede Blue and yellow.
Since the CG was taken out from under the treasury dept. and put into law enforcement instead of search and rescue and maintaining Aids to Navigation as their main jobs they have sure went to hell, If I as a boarding officer when I was in the outfit had even treated anyone like they treated me then I would never have got above a rank of E-1 and would have still been trying to get that old Norsky skippers shoe out of my ass.

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Originally Posted by Mid

double edged sword ain't it , Navy went 'cause they where asked wonder what the alternative would bring ?

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Yes for sure the right thing was done. If I was in such a situation I would expect that whoever could help, would, and of course it is only the right thing. No doubt it blooded a few navy blokes and may have been a very positive experience for all involved, however you have to wonder about the possible negative consequences if the result had been different. Perhaps if someone had been injured or lost their life saving this bloke we would be having a very differnt discussion.
My point is that these racers are travelling in what can only be described as "living on the edge" in such conditions and they are asking that others put their lives at risk so that they can achieve their personal goals.

Someone mentioned before that the organisers would have insurance to cover such rescue operations so presumably the Oz govt can send them a bill?..

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Originally Posted by Johnny Longprong

My point is that these racers are travelling in what can only be described as "living on the edge" in such conditions and they are asking that others put their lives at risk so that they can achieve their personal goals.

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How very right you are, just seems there will never bee all people agreeing on what should be done at such times.

It used to be in the USCG that you went out in any weather, If you got a call a boat was sent out and the crew didn't know where we were going until we were in the water and running full throttle for the Bar, then we were told on the radio where we were going and what was wrong,. and I don't know if that still holds true, as I seem to remember somewhere that it was said that it was to rough for a crew to go out in the not to distant past.
When I was on a lifeboat station we had an old Norwegian Chief WO who had started his career in the Revenue Cutter service as a sailmaker on the old Cutter "Bear" and he had a sign hanging over the ready boat "You have to go out, You do not have to come back" and he meant every word of that. And our boats were built in the late 30s and were wooden 36 foot self righting, self bailing motor surf boats and we spent more than one night out on a stormy sea out of Eureka Calif.
Once with a crippled UC cal oceanography vessel with an injured crewman with a busted pelvic for 2 days and nights because it was to rough for the 210' WATF "Avoyal" to go out and to rough on the bar for the UC boat to try coming in.

I thought there was a code of rescue at sea for boats in danger,

how is that different ? just because it's a commercial race, the participants should be left alone when in difficulty ? aren't they still sailors ruled by the same code ?

some of the comments in this thread are shameful, not worthy for real sailors.

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Dramatische Rettung: Segler Elies schwebte in Lebensgefahr - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Nachrichten - Sport

The rescue mission again raised questions about the cost of saving foreign yachtsmen who put themselves at risk in the Southern Ocean.

But the Government strongly defended the work, and the French Government was reported to have expressed its gratitude at the highest level.

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Commander Bowater told the Vendee Globe organisers: "We do get sailed every now and again for racers, but that's what we as mariners do - it's the law of the sea."

The Defence Minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, said Australia had an international obligation to carry out search-and-rescue operations in its assigned area, which was one of the world's largest.

"We will continue to do so," he said.

A Defence Department spokesman said the cost of sending the frigate and its 100 crew on the mission had not been calculated.

"I've seen several figures, but none of them have come from us," he said.

Some media reports put the cost at more than $1 million.

A former round-the-world racer, David Adams, who is advising the Vendee Globe organisers, said it had proved impossible for these yachtsmen to obtain search and rescue insurance.

Rescues to continue, regardless of cost - National News - National - General - The Canberra Times

Yann Elies
Jock Main
Monday, 22 December 2008

Yann Elies (Vendee competitor Generali) arrived at approximately 1215 (GMT+9) today at Fremanle and was transferred to ambulance for transport to Fremantle Hospital.

Yann appeared comfortable although his team manager, Benoit Gilles, reported that he was well sedated.

Intial reports that he was on the bow when he broke his femur (thigh) were partially correct.

Yann was standing on the boom attending to reefing when the boat buried it's bow.

Yann was launched off the boom, through the rigging and ended up on the bow.

The Royal Flying Doctor medic who attended to Yann onboard Generali reported that his injuries were worse than initially suspected; he has a broken femur, a number of broken ribs, suspected punctured lung and possible pelvis injuries.

Generali was attended to by Navy specialists to ensure her survival. Two of the Generali team are leaving Fremantly at 1500 this afternoon to retrieve her and sail to Fremantle.

Video and photos to follow later today.

freodoctor.com.au

Generali lost at sea
December 29. 2008

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© ABLE SEAMAN / COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA 2008 / Vendée Globe

While Yann Eliès' health has now improved sufficiently to allow him to be flown home this Wednesday 31st December, the Generali IMOCA Open 60 is considered lost at sea some 700 miles south of Australia.

As the medical teams were busy taking care of Yann following his accident, Generali launched an operation to recover the boat. Two members of Team Generali arrived in Fremantle, Australia and identified a suitable boat to take them to where the Open 60 was abandoned.

On 23rd December, the Race Directors realized that the positioning beacon on the Generali was no longer transmitting. They were informed by the French Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (CROSS Gris Nez) that the COSPAS SARSAT distress beacon had been triggered. The Generali team was immediately informed.

Philippe Laot, the technical director of Yann Eliès' team and Jean-Baptiste Epron, a Generali crew member were able to set off in a fishing boat on Wednesday 25th December, but soon encountered very bad wind and sea conditions.

While they were on passage to the expected location on Friday 26th December, they were told by the Generali shore team that the distress beacon had stopped transmitting. It was therefore no longer possible to identify the boat's position. The weather conditions worsened (7-8m high waves and crossed seas) and the team was forced to call off the search.

Since being capsized on Boxing Day Seb Josse has made nearly 500 miles north towards better weather conditions to try to make repairs to the rudder of his BT and see what can be done with the cracking on the deck of the British Open 60. Derek Hatfield has made no official decision about retiring from the Vendée Globe and is making steady progress towards Australia preserving his rig which lost the support of two top spreaders after being knocked over late on Saturday night. Canadian Hatfield has had many, many messages of support sent to a skipper whose battle to get to the start line was never, ever easy. He painstakingly built the Owen Clarke design in-house and raised enough funding to start this race by finding more than 10,000 individuals and supporters to contribute. Even in Les Sables d’Olonne at the start his team were still seeking and receiving donations.

Sam Davies, GBR, (Roxy) still holds a strong eighth place. From being 606 miles behind seventh placed Jean Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac) she is now 263 miles behind this morning.

At the front of the fleet only Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement) has managed to stay within 100 miles of leader Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia). Jean Le Cam (VM Matériaux) is third at 280.6 miles behind, while the Le Cléach and Riou duo are now the best part of 500 miles behind the leader in fourth and fifth. Again last night the pair passed with less than three miles between them.

vendeeglobe.org