Agree with Steamer. 1 meter is 3.28 feet. That is not very deep. Surely that vessel had much more chain/wire to anchor much deeper. Anyone have an idea what these vessels have for ground gear? Not sure that would have made a difference in what happpened, but would think they had “ample anchor” capabilities in 50 meters of depth. And perhaps 50 fathoms.Lost 9 shots at Boothville due to wear and tear on gear when brake let go… Probably still there in the silt… Shit happens. Had an alert mate that noticed us moving a bit, had to sail early in bad weather.
About 7-9 shackles per side. Depends if Owners want a little extra above the class minimum.
Oops - just realised “lynching” was a poor choice of word!
Don’t worry.
With the Chairman of Hiscox (global insurance) and a partner at Clifford Chance (international law firm) among the lost - there will be a lot of introspection into exactly what happened. Regardless of what the Armchair Ex-spurts, Sea Lawyers, Gun Deckers and Scallywags lurking here might pre-suppose.
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Yes 50 meters is very doable, my mistake.
Well said sir.
Most yachts this size in the Med this time of year will anchor in 20-40 meters of water depending on the anchorage and other boats nearby. That’s pretty comfortable from a ship handling and typical equipment on board perspective. Position shown on the AIS screenshot in the thread looks as one would expect at anchor on an otherwise tranquil night.
Of interest in the longer term will be the witness statements in full, available weather forecasts, details of the onboard anchor watch, the standing orders / typical procedures and the activities ongoing at the moment the wind came up, such as morning cleaning and garbage runs - although this might be a little early for it. Depends on crew size and activities needed to come off when. We’ve landed guests by tender in perfectly tranquil evenings only to have it blowing 60+ knots a half-hour later with 11 shackles paid out and the engines ahead. So having this type of thing creep up in the Med this time of year - yeah it happens. But to have such an intense event so quickly. Wow.
Unless otherwise forecast … +100 kts out of the blue at 4 am is pretty far down in the risk assessment of real people sailing what are big capable typically classed and load line compliant yachts, including those seafarers who are very experienced in the area, its weather patterns, the vessel and what is going on in general.
Maybe the Captain’s B & G wind alarm was set at about 15-20 kts and with that and anything more than a slight heel - he and the mate were bolting up on deck to join the anchor watchperson very quickly when shit started coming unglued.
That being pure speculation on my part but once again, fairly typical for yacht operations and we all will find out what really happened soon enough.
So us mere mortals we will have to wait on more about this seemingly freak occurrence. … Stand by for details.
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From Italian News Agency just now "Adnkronos also reported that investigators believed the yacht sank bow first and then slowly capsized on to its right side.
The news agency quoted sources among the authorities involved in the recovery operations saying that the victims were found outside their cabins. “The passengers sought escape routes, reaching the opposite side of the vessel they were in,” Adnkronos reported. “But the water had already reached the cabins and five of them were found in that direction.”"
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Also reports the tender’s access hatch was partially open and located starboard bow…mast is intact…so human error responsible
Late night ferrying of crew/passengers back to yacht?
Give it a break. A freak weather event occurring coincidentally with a normal vessel activity (launching tender) is hardly “human error”. How do you know the sequence of events that may or may not have been underway on the boat at the time? How do you know the tender hatch was not in the process of being closed because they saw or felt the wind and seas changed or was being opened when the most bizarre and outrageously impossible event overcame them. Why don’t you guys at least wait until survivors tell their stories before blaming people who do jobs you know nothing about on boats you know even less about?
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We may give it a break but it is unlikely that the Italian authorities will. According to F1 designer Adrian Newey, Italian law does not recognize the concept of accidental death and all deaths from other than natural causes or suicide are investigated and prosecuted as manslaughter. Newey learned this because he was prosecuted with “not proven” verdicts three times for the death of Ayrton Senna. This is recounted in Newey’s book How to Build a Car. (Worth reading, BTW).
Guardian article of 21 August states that the local prosecutors, not some NTSB-like agency, have begun investigation.
Earl
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Well sure, what would YOU say if a boat you built was sunk by a thunderstorm? 
All are positioning for the 10 years of lawsuits to come.
I remember somewhere in the Concordia saga that an Indonesian (or Sri Lankan) helsman was fingered by Italian court for turning the wheel the wrong way, and thinking - how is a kid whose only english is “Standard Marine Comm Phrases” expected to read the minds of a bridge full of Italian deck officers, in full flow Italian with all the hand gestures, screaming at each other?
But the court didn’t think that way…
Yes, there is some blame game coming - probably not all deserved.
By the NTSB standard of creeping along towards probable cause, aren’t the Italians WAY early in deciding the crew, or some portions thereof, are criminals?
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Sharknado, definitely.
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Damn, they fingered the poor guy? What kind of fuckin operation are they running over there?!
I agree with you about that but I am looking at this the same way that most of the membership does when there is some major maritime accident and the retail media goes off the deep end with ridiculous statements about ships and mariners. As a group, we don’t cut them much slack just because they are reporters not mariners. So why are regulars here posting the same kind of uninformed crap they jump on journalists for publishing?
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Everybody has the right to say what they think.
Unfortunately there is no law against not thinking before you say.
Therewith, I wish to withdraw my suggestion of a Sharknado.
It was definitely a Giant Squid.
Probably the same one that took Robert Maxwell.
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Our own Sal M is commenting on CNN as we “pontificate”… Giant squid almost took down the “Seaview”.on “Voyage to the bottom of the sea”. Last week an alien spaceship caused them problems.
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I remember that squid, that would have taken a shed load of batter to cook properly.