'Most Innovative' yacht in mystery sinking

[n2doc]

'In this Greek Coast Guard photo released on Friday, Feb. 17, 2012, a Greek air force helicopter flies over a half sunken 60-meter French-flagged yacht which suffered mechanical failure in gale-force winds off the coast of the Aegean island of Skyros, Greece. The coast guard said two Air Force helicopters and a Navy frigate, as well as coast guard vessels and four commercial ships headed to the assistance of the yacht, registered as Yogi, after its captain sent out a distress signal Friday morning' .


Its oversized windows, glass skylights, main deck pool area and beach club, which won it accolades last year for its innovative features were not enough to keep it afloat. Yogi, the 60m superyacht which won the 'Most Innovative Yacht of the Year of 2011' has sunk off the island of Skyros in Greece.

Eight crew on board the luxury cruising yacht had a lucky escape today after a Greek helicopter rescued them from the sinking vessel.

While no real explanation for the sinking has yet been given, it is known that the French-flagged yacht was in gale-force winds and had lost engine power before the sinking, which appeared to be in deep water.

The crew had scrambled to the highest point on the yacht to await rescue as it flooded with water earlier this morning.

more
http://www.powerboat-world.com/usa/Most-Innovative-yacht-in-mystery-sinking/94002

[Evasporque]

1. There is a reason they call them "Dock Princesses".....

More time spent on luxury and comfort and less time on seaworthiness....

Those big windows on the water line I will bet were the cause...if a breaking wave smashed into the side of vessel there is no way they would withstand hundreds if not thousands of tons of water pressure....I suspect the aft waterline windows on the other side were stoved in and caused below deck flooding, enough to knock out the engines...as wave after wave hit the aft quarter the water kept coming in....why it took seven hours to sink....

[msongs]

2. so did the 1% owner pay for the rescue by the bankrupted Greeks? nt

[Bandit]

3. Gale Force winds should not have any effect on a vessel of this size

At the very worst you are talking 45 knots and 25 foot seas. A vessel 200 feet long and brand new should not have any problems at all. I have Commercial fished in winds and seas much larger with a vessel much much smaller. I think it is either an insurance job or sabotage..

[onethatcares]

5. I'm with you

bow into the waves and wind and a boat that size should be able to ride out a storm with those types of conditions.

The financial meltdown may have affected more than people realize.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. But it had lost power, so may not have been able to remain bow into the waves

On edit:

Several people at the Yacht & Brokerage Show in Miami Beach yesterday speculated that the yacht perhaps wasn’t built as well as it could have been. But at least one surveyor said the accident was not the yard’s fault.

“Yachts don’t carry sea anchors anymore,” said a surveyor who asked not to be named because he didn’t have direct knowledge of the sinking. “If they lose power, they lose their stabilizers. Without stabilizers and steerage, they end up in beam seas. You get a cyclic roll that will eventually cause them to roll over.

“It had nothing to do with it being built in Turkey,” he said. “People would be surprised to know how unstable a lot of these yachts really are.”

http://thetriton.com/article/2012/02/my-yogi-sinks-coast-greece

[cbayer]

9. Absolutely. Now, why it lost power is the big question.

It might have taken on water in the engine room or some electronics may have been blown out.

Anyway, while I would feel ok on a sailboat in those conditions, I would really hate to be on a small luxury liner like this. It looks like a very shallow draft on that boat.

[onethatcares]

10. that I would understand

without power the seas can turn you over in a heartbeat.

My next line of thought would be; Why wasn't the anchor itself lowered? I think of sea anchors as being large

funnel shaped objects used to slow the drift of boats. I could not imagine being on a boat without a very large danforth or naval style anchor with a suitable length of anchor rode for just such an emergency.

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. You use the sea anchor at the bows

When you have no power (mechanical or sail):

Passive techniques involve positioning the bow of your boat into the wind to help avoid broaching and capsizing. Unlike active techniques, the boat has no hope of lessening the force of the storm, or avoiding an approaching large breaking wave which can pitchpoll (end-over-end capsizing of the boat) the boat .
...
Use of a sea anchor off the bow : Sea anchors are essentially large drogues. Initially, many were made from military parachutes and are often referred to as parachute anchors. The large size of the anchor creates a large amount of drag which will significantly slow the motion of the craft and align the bow directly into the waves. Unlike a drogue, a sea anchor is always placed off the bow and not the stern since the bow cuts into the waves and sheds water much better than the stern of the boat. ( The diameter of the parachute anchor should be at least 35% of the boat's LOA )

http://www.cruising.sailingcourse.com/heavy_weather.htm

The article did say it was deep water; looking at a chart around Skyros, it could be 500-1000m deep. I'm not sure many yachts would keep 500m of cable available.

[cbayer]

12. Sea anchors are not meant to touch bottom.

They are meant to create drag and allow you to point the boat.

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. I know - the bit about depth was replying to onethatcare's last sentence

about an anchor for the bottom: "I could not imagine being on a boat without a very large danforth or naval style anchor with a suitable length of anchor rode for just such an emergency."

[cbayer]

14. OK, I see that now. Sorry.

[onethatcares]

15. thanks for the information

good thing I never had a boat that large,

[cbayer]

16. No one needs a boat that large, imo!

That's just boat overkill.

And it probably got about 1/100 mile per gallon on fuel, lol.

[cbayer]

4. Although the owners have said that they will release more information

on the cause, I can't find anything from them except some vague statements.

Agree with above - too much emphasis on luxury and not enough on seaworthiness.

[bongbong]

6. probably

It's probably an insurance fraud case (deliberate sinking)

[dembotoz]

8. ya know--i was gonna buy that thing--happy i didn't

did not think my chevy geo would be able to tow it to the lake.

[parkia00]

17. Maybe it was heavily Insured?

And sinking in deep water makes it difficult to inspect for cause of sinking. Or too many big glass windows blew out.

[cbayer]

18. There is something fishy about this

Press Statement No: 2 - February 21, 2012

Istanbul, Turkey

Proteksan Turquoise, the Turkish shipyard that constructed the 60 metre yacht, MY Yogi, that sank off Skyros, Greece on February 17, wishes to explain that none of their representatives, nor their lawyers, have been able to interview the Captain and crew or obtain their written statements to date and the indications are that it will be a further ten days or so before they will meet with them. The only contact that has been made was when the Captain made a phone call to the shipyard after he had been rescued and was safely ashore on Skyros.

It is for this reason that Proteksan Turquoise has not been in a position to release any further statements beyond the one sent out on Friday, February 17, as it feels that it is important to have all the facts relating to the incident before commenting further.