25 thoughts on “Race Yacht Crash Caught on Camera | Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15

  1. Rob Noll

    I hate this. Those noises in the night are terrifying. …and these are
    big ones. No depth sounder alarm?

  2. The TerraMar Project

    An incredible article detailing the grounding of Team Vestas Wind during
    the Volvo Ocean Race. Below is a video showing the seconds leading up to
    the incident, and for anyone that’s spent any time on the
    water–particularly at night–it will send chills down your spine.

    ““Extreme” is a word that organizers and sailors like to use to describe
    the Volvo Ocean Race. “Brutal” might be more accurate. The nine-month,
    thirty-nine-thousand-mile race, split into nine legs, crosses four oceans
    and eleven countries in six continents. Sailors must endure the persistent
    pounding of waves, unbearable temperatures, constant dampness, sleep
    deprivation, cramped quarters, and isolation. It’s a grind, emotionally and
    physically. The race is not without danger; the required body bag on board
    each boat is a grim reminder of that. Five people have died since the race
    began, in 1973, as the Whitbread Round the World Race. Up until this year,
    nineteen boats have failed to make the finish. A recent crash has almost
    certainly pushed that number to twenty.”

    See more of the article about here: http://bit.ly/1up7gkE

  3. Nautical PappyStu

    Clearly a navigational error, lost the race, but no lives, they’ll be back
    to race another time… 

  4. Allan Steers

    Well done VOR for not shying away from reporting all the events of the
    race. Good and bad. Seeing how adversity is dealt with by a VOR crew is not
    something you get to see very often (thankfully).

  5. Bram Hendriks

    *Volvo Ocean Race live footage of Vesta Wind’s crash on reef*

    It’s the middle of the night, then suddenly a loud crash. It’s scary as
    hell. It’s life to the extreme. This is why I follow the Volvo Ocean Race.

    It could have ended badly for the crew, but somehow everybody got away
    unscratched. I didn’t realize the crash was this bad and it could have
    ended much worse. The crew was unbelievable lucky and I’m happy about that.

    #vor #volvooceanrace #vestawind

  6. Marynistyka Group - Żeglarskie prezenty, Morskie antyki, Marynistyczne dekoracje

    Charging through the Indian Ocean at high speed and in total darkness,
    nothingness ahead, nothingness around. Speed is good, sailing is supreme.
    And then …BANG. On Saturday night, during the second leg of the notoriously
    grueling Volvo Ocean Race, Team Vestas Wind ran aground on a reef off
    Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean, and broke both of the vessel’s rudders.
    After spending most of the night aboard the damaged $6 million 65-foot
    yacht, the nine sailors climbed into two life rafts and were picked up by
    the local coast guard early in the morning. None were injured.

  7. Patrick Wright

    I am glad that no one was injured in the grounding and that they were all
    rescued without too much delay. This was a huge failure of seamanship.
    Watch standing 101 requires that you determine your position and examine
    the intended track for the watch on the largest scale chart available and
    identify potential hazards that may be in vicinity before you assume the
    watch. You continue to monitor your position with regard to any and all
    traffic and hazards while you are on watch. Finding the hazard on the
    electronic chart after you are hard aground, as is shown on the video at
    1:16 is too little, too late. I am not familiar with the ECDIS that they
    are using but most have an alarm function that you can set to your
    specifications, that will alert you when you are getting too close to a
    potential hazard. That said if the alarm really alerts you, you haven’t
    been paying attention anyway. 

  8. Clayton Handley

    @ 1:17 We see exactly how they missed the reef on the chart. You can see as
    the map zooming out until the reef vanishes off the map. Glad there okay.
    Sad, there race is over. 

  9. Marco Frijlink

    Vrij unieke video vanaf de Vestas toen ze midden in de nacht op het rif
    zeilden ‪#‎VOR‬ ‪#‎VolvoOceanRace‬

  10. Andrew Clelland

    Being a sailor I can vouch for the elements and fatigue taking control, and
    things being able to get out of hand easily… especially when you are in
    narrows and/or pushing the limits. However, going back to my basic YM
    training, you put down a Lat or Long warning line, and don’t let the yacht
    cross it. Claiming the Nav didn’t zoom in enough would have made no
    difference in the lat/long readout. Going on about the speed of these
    yachts, etc, etc is a poor excuse – they live with these vessels for years,
    and should be able to assess a safe tacking distance of travel to keep in
    deep water. Same with the ‘middle of the night’ and ‘can’t hear the surf’
    excuses… very poor. Again, if you are surrounded by elements which
    challenge navigation on deck, then you make safety allowances for this.
    Even if the Captain was pushing for a faster course, the Navigator should
    have overridden if it was unsafe. Accidents like this are easily
    avoidable… that is the saddest part. Just plain luck no one was injured.

Comments are closed.