5 rescued from vessel in trouble off north cape

They then saw three people on part of the wrecked vessel, Donnelly said.

“And on further investigation we realised there were no other assets in the area, as in vessels, to come and pick them up.

“So we carried out a winching operation, open water, at night, using night vision goggles.”

Battling worsening squalls, the crew managed to recover three survivors.

“We couldn’t have done it without the four of us," Donnelly said.

“And I think it would be a fair comment to say, I’ve been flying for 30 years, and that would be the most challenging rescue I’ve ever, ever done.

“Night time, over water, small target and relatively large swells.”

A particularly large squall hit just as they were undertaking the winching, he said.
www.stuff.co.nz/national/300547387/enchanter-sinking-inside-the-rescue-with-the-helicopter-heroes-who-saved-five-lives

I'm going to make a call on what I think happened, based on various media reports and video footage of the helo rescues.
There are a few gaps or conflicting elements in the media reports, so feel free to add you 2 cents worth.

I reckon the boat suffered a sudden capsize, in the area of North Cape.
1) The cabin top had come off. I'm buggered if I know how to do that, but a capsize, or very large wave beam on blowing out windows and damaging the structure is all I can think of.
2) Video footage shows all those rescued without lifejackets on. This would suggest a sudden issue, as opposed to a slowly developing issue giving them time to put LJ's on.
3) RNZ report below says the survivors spent 4 hours in the water. Based on approx time of rescue around midnight, that would mean people went in the water about the time the EPIRB was activated.
4) Commercial boats now require float free EPIRB's, meaning it would activate if the boat suffered a sudden capsize.
5) The hull is still floating, but upside down. i.e. it has capsized. Not clear when it capsized however, if this is what caused the issue, or if it happened later. Noting that the boat hull has not sunk (contrary to some media reports).
6) From the RNZ story, it sounds like the last body may have been found inside the hull. Police confirmed the hull was still floating today, and once they found it (it had drifted 7 nm over night) the dive squad were going to secure and search it. Being trapped in the hull could also indicate a sudden capsize.
7) Navionics sonar chart shows a very steep drop off around North Cape. 100m depth over 1.35 nm. Given the easterly quarter wind, the geography is highly likely to create 'rogue waves', as they 'come onto soundings'. This is the exact same issue that impacted / sunk the cruising yacht Essence. i.e. approaching the coast or coming into shallower water in a NE blow.

Things that don't make sense:
1) media reports said the boat sunk 200m off North Cape. I was wondering if the 200 m was a typo. It is possibly where the boat ended up after capsizing, i.e. being washed ashore. But the boat never hit the shore, it is still floating around.
2) Earlier media reports said the skipper made a radio call at 10 pm saying he was an hour away from Mongonui. I haven't seen this again, it is most likely an error, given that RNZ said all survivors were in the water for 4 hours.

Also noting that all survivors were rescued off either that cabin top or the upturned hull. No one was rescued from the water.
Also noting no talk, evidence of or pictures of a liferaft - also supporting the sudden capsize theory.

What have I missed, and what other information conflicts with the above?

www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018835227/enchanter-tragedy-skipper-in-complete-shock-over-boat-sinking

Looking at the boat it’s probably semi displacement with a reasonable deadwood which would track pretty well in a quartering sea . So cape Reinga to north cape would’ve been beam to quarter sea on port side . There would’ve been enough light to see the waves and button off accordingly and keep the boat from taking off down waves . IF they were planning to shelter in behind the island at NTH cape that would’ve meant turning the corner and having an aft sea plus like fish said it would be standing up more in the shallow water .
So one theory is they took off on an uncontrollable surf just after dark the boat did a bow down broach and ripped the super structure off . All 3 of those boats have massive hardtops with structural windows so a lot of weight up there and not designed to go sideways under water at 20 knots

Let's cut to the mustard here. These boats are hopeless in a following sea. Unlike race yachts they have not learnt the value of long deep rudders and correct hull design.

Boats, at some stage, will hit bad weather. Especially commercial boats that head out on longer trips. These guys have not embraced new design and technology.

Thirty years ago moves were made to make these boats safer and self righting. Re the lady Liz 3 police boat in Wellington.

These fishing guys are " disasters waiting to happen" in my mind.

They stick with old designs/ building tecniques/ materials..., do things on the cheap, bend the rules and know thier boats vices but never fix them.

Take us yachties...


Back in the 70's the farr 727 had a cronic upwind weather helm Issue and a downhill rudder stall issue which lead to broaching.

Roll forward to today and that is well resolved through design evolutiion

Look that these fishing boats... What's changed?... The electronics packages/ motors have but the rest are still the same old vulnerable designs that cater for cockpit space as a priority.

Many of the shit designs are known to have handling issues and are just flicked off to the next unsuspecting idjit.

These guys need to be held to account and stopped from annually killing people and making it harder for the safe sailors ( in yachts) to do their business with out flow over regulations.

But the pending review will do nothing to fix this, as the previous similar " homicides" have done and this crap will keep on keeping on.

People pay a lot of money to these cowboys to keep them safe first! No catch fish as a priority!

Fuck em!!!

I doubt the boat foundered simply from being underway in those conditions. It sounds like the skipper is very familiar with that local area and conditions so I wonder if something else happened that started a cascade of events eg if they got swamped (it’s a very low cockpit) leading to engine or steering failure. Left to the mercy of the seas with no power or steering I could then imagine things going very wrong in a boat of that design.

WTF!?...

Taking on The three kings is not a picnic.

A well foundered boat will remain afloat and upright even if power or steering is lost or swamped.

Big cockpits with loww free boards should be sealed from water ingress into the hull and have scuppers to drain water fast.

Again it's a design / construction flaw a good skipper should be aware of and thus limit it's operation in pending bad sea conditions.

stopped to drop lines is the same as being underway in my mind. The boat should handle it no matter what sea state... Yacht hove to all the time .

Nah not buying these excuses. These guys are supposed to be professionals. Yet I see better skills and judgments at a learn to sail class on a Sunday morning.

as for " mercy of the sea"
WTF!? V-2... That's saying is reserved for a vessel with nobody onboard!

This skipper had the ability to deal with a fast developing situation by never putting yourself into the situation in the first place...

He didn't know the limits of his boat, had a boat with obvious weaknesses , and chose a narrow window of weather to catch fish in a area where rough seas and shallowing water create issues! He did this is in a boat not fit for purpose.. obviously!

These boats are death traps in my mind.