first seeing a light to collision point. For a smaller
vessel, showing lights with a two mile visibility,
that reduces to just six minutes to impact.
The difficulties of sailing in areas such as the
South China Sea are well documented. It is one of
the busiest shipping areas in the world, and one
of the most densely fished waterways. Many
fishing boats do not carry AIS, while others use
AIS buoys to help track the their nets
Ian Walker said he had sympathy not only for
the victims but also huge sympathy for the Vestas c rew.
“Because I know, but for the will of god, how close I’ve been
in the past to probably a very similar incident. It’s really
difficult to gauge distance and depth; a lot of things aren’t
lit and aren’t on AIS.
“I’ve been there when you pick up a bit of a light and
the first thing you see is somebody smoking a cigarette
on board, and you swerve and miss them by less than a
boat length. And we were going a lot slower than 20 knots.”
This was the race’s first visit to Hong Kong, although
previously the fleet raced through the Strait of Malacca en
route to Sanya. Then some skippers did raise concerns,
and it was even suggested that the race be stopped to the
west of Singapore, then restarted the other side. In the
event, the boats sailed to Sanya without incident.
The practicalities of keeping a lookout while racing at
speed are challenging. Many boats will periodically bear
away to give better visibility around the headstay,
although at race pace doing this even at 10 minute
intervals would not guarantee seeing a small vessel. Other
options are to station a crew member to leeward, use a
high powered torch to look forward, or direct light on their
own sails to make themselves more visible.
Scallywag skipper David Witt, who races a maxi out of
Hong Kong, says: “[Looking back at our track] every three
or four minutes the bow goes down massively and comes
back up, and I spent 12 hours in front of the computer
screen because I know it’s hard here.
“The AIS is not just boats, it’s fishing nets too. They have
their own local lighting system with the nets and if you
don’t know [it], it’s extremely difficult. I had either John
Fisher or Ben Piggott on deck the whole time, because
they sail here and know what the light system is.”
There is no suggestion that Vestas was not maintaining
a proper lookout. Awaiting the official investigation, the
picture emerging from those close to the race was that
they hit an unmarked, unlit vessel. Rumours that Vestas
had put in a request for redress have been contentious,
although it’s worth noting the rules state that any request
for redress has to be lodged within 24 hours, regardless of
whether it is later withdrawn.
Photographs of the damage to Vestas show impacts to
both the underside of the bow and the port topsides,
suggesting that the collision was with a small vessel that
the VO65 drove over, rather than a bow-on crash.
However, many sailors emphasised that, while they did
not believe it contributed to this crash, an over-reliance on
AIS can be dangerous, particularly when the picture on
the screen does not match reality.Collision averted
Jules Salter, navigator on Team AkzoNobel, explains: “I
think sometimes in the advent of AIS everyone’s more
than happy to look at a screen and think that’s showing
you everything which is out there. But it’s not always.
There are unlit boats everywhere.
“When I was growing up sailing I was the nipper on the
boat and it was me who’d have to stick my head under the
jib and look to leeward on deliveries every five minutes to
keep a watch out. You’ve still got to do that.”
The final incident only came to light after the fourth
leg had finished. On 6 January, racing in the Coral Sea,Discrepancies
between the C-Map
electronic charts
and paper charts
contributed to
Scallywag heading
directly for a reefvolvo ocean race