LETTERS
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Letters may be edited as appropriateLETTERS
Lookout for the US Navy
I write with regard to the collision in
August between a commercial vessel
and a US-flagged warship in the Strait of
Malacca near Singapore, the second such
incident in as many months.
During our recent crossing of the
Atlantic, a few days out from the Azores
on our cruising yacht, my partner
woke me from my off watch to look at
an odd but indistinct shape she had
picked up on radar. In the grey gloom
of some indifferent weather we quickly
ascertained that this was not one ship
but three vessels in close company – and
they were now very close to us.
The radar ghost my alert crew spotted
proved to be a US Navy support tanker
which was refuelling two (invisible)
frigates on either side of her. The speed
of this abnormally wide platform was in
the region of 15-16 knots and they were
carrying no visible navigation lights in the
half evening light.
Bearing down on us, rather too close
for comfort, a yeoman of the watch
suddenly called us on VHF Ch16. He
asked us if we were able to alter course,
or gybe, as they were a Naval group in
a “linked manoeuvring situation”. We of
course obliged.
We were only able to do this as we
were alert and had noticed their presence
in time – gybing our 54ft vessel with
poled-out headsails in elevated wind and
sea is not immediate, so the pass was
very close.
What concerned me most about this
incident was the fact that three very
large ships, barely visible on radar,
were suddenly in dangerously close
proximity. I am aware that Navy vessels
do not necessarily wish to advertise
their presence – it is also clear that they
have cloaking to reduce their visibility on
radar. But if Navy warships are operating
in close proximity to commercial or
leisure vessels, it follows that a huge
responsibility falls upon Naval crews to
maintain a proper and vigilant watch at
all times.
We shall see what transpires following
the inquiries into the two US Navy
collisions that have now taken place.
It will be interesting to see how visible
the naval vessels were and what (if any)
communication took place before the
collisions. Had my partner been less
vigilant on our vessel mid-Atlantic I have
no doubt the outcome could have been
very different!
John BurnieI think we have reached the point where
the bridge watches rely so much on the
electronics that they lose their ‘seaman’s
eye’. It takes practice to mentally track
multiple contacts, especially at nightwhen the only visual clues are the
navigation lights of the other vessels.
Airline pilots have the same issues:
they become so used to the computer
controlling every part of the flight that
when they have to do a difficult task, like
landing in severe crosswinds, they often
can’t. Airlines solved this by doubling
and then doubling again the amount of
simulator time on these issues.
But once a surface warfare officer
graduates from school and gets his water
wings he will never again spend time
in the simulator. And the bridge watch
teams that he uses will never do team
training in the simulator either. Training
is expensive and time-consuming, and
since the budget sequester, it is the first
thing cut from the budget.
I think that the recent mishaps show
that training is cheaper in the long
run, but Congress and the Admirals
would rather have shiny new toys then
competent watchstanders.
Dave MartinRacing Blitzen
My Dad owned and raced Blitzen
(Extraordinary Boats, Sept 17), although
we renamed her Nimrod V, from 1951-- He and my brother, Ned, built an
aluminium mast to replace her wooden
one, which was the first Hall Spar!
Growing up on this boat was great
fun – racing, cruising and learning how to
maintain and sail a beautiful design. As a
kid I was lucky to have sailed with many
of the legends of the day.
Ben Hall
Heavy weather multihulls
In my experience sailing multihulls in
storm conditions, both cats and tris, one
should never round up into the wind. If
you do, you stand a high chance of losing
it and capsizing.
Lay a drogue, reduce speed, and if the
main is very hard to get down, winch it
from the bottom. I had lines preset for
this on my large trimaran. Experience
and preparation is the key.
Don’t use a parachute – this can
almost stop the boat causing more
damage. A good drogue is better for
reducing speed and much safer.
Te rr y M ot tDamage to the
guided-missile
destroyer USS
John S. McCain,
following a
collision with a
merchant vessel
near SingaporeMC2 Joshua Fulton/U.S. Navy/UPIPhotos:16 November 2017