Endeavor sinks during Friendship Sloop Races

[Ross Faneuf]

The Friendship sloop Endeavor sank yesterday during Friendship Sloop races off Rockland ME. I extracted the following from a story on the local community web site, camden.k2bh.com:

Five people were rescued Tuesday afternoon after the Friendship Sloop Endeavor capsized and sank during the opening round of competition outside Rockland Harbor.

Lorraine Strauss, a crew member on the boat, said the 25-foot sloop began taking on water while the boat was up on its rail. It happened at around 1:30 p.m. about one mile east of the Rockland Breakwater lighthouse. No injuries were reported.

"The water just started pouring in and she didn't want to right herself," Strauss said

This site is a subscription site, so most of you won't be able to see the full story unless you sign up for a 30 day free trial.

A second story posted today on the race itself mentions winds steady in the 20 knot range, gusting to maybe 30, and that a total of 9 boats retired from the race due to the windy conditions, with one skipper saying it was the windiest race day for this event he's ever encountered.

Endeavor was built by the fabled Ralph Stanley of Southwest Harbor; I don't know her age. A mile east of the Rockland light is probably fairly deep water - upwards of 200' - so a salvage would be difficult.

If people won't more news, I'll answer questions with info from the site. I have no first-hand knowledge beyond stories there.

[John B]

It's a knock down then? Do they have self draining cockpits in friendship sloops?.

[Alan D. Hyde]

A proper bridgedeck, and good washboards that were in place, should have prevented this.

The details might be interesting, Ross, when you can get them.

Of course, something a bit similar happened to Ed Glaser in the "Isaac H. Evans" a few years ago, on Eggemoggin Reach. He took a sudden gust as he came out of the island's wind shadow.

Alan

[Bob Cleek]

Sad to hear of the loss of a Friendship. Hope maybe it could be raised. (Like that Colin Archer they wrote up in WB.) Still, I would be interested to know how that happened. I'm with Allan... my first thought was "pilot error." After all, come on, 20-30 knots isn't that big a deal. What are those guys talking about? That's the regular afternoon wind through the "Slot" on SF Bay. Out here, we don't start "quality bitching" until we are caught having to beat into 40 and above AGAINST the tide. Not trying to make light of their grief, for sure... just surprised the Friendshippers were daunted by that kind of weather. Am I missing something?

[Nicholas Carey]

Originally posted by Bob Cleek:
After all, come on, 20-30 knots isn't that big a deal. What are those guys talking about? That's the regular afternoon wind through the "Slot" on SF Bay. Out here, we don't start "quality bitching" until we are caught having to beat into 40 and above AGAINST the tide. Not trying to make light of their grief, for sure... just surprised the Friendshippers were daunted by that kind of weather. Am I missing something?

More likely she hadn't been sailed in a while -- the above water planking had dried out and the seams opened up.

Heeled over in 25 kts wind, all those open seams will weep like crazy. Enough water in the vessel and when she takes a knockdown, she's not coming up on her own.

Or maybe she spring a plank when she was knocked down.

[Ian McColgin]

The traditional Friendship is not self-bailing so the combination of some serious weeping, Niagra over the rail, and an excess of zeal could fill her up pretty quick.

Myself, I just try to do that with boats that'll float after they swamp.

[Ken Hall]

Alan--

You know Ed Glaser? I had the privilege of being a passenger on the Evans in July of '95 (still got a T-shirt and 2 coffee mugs http://media5.hypernet.com/~dick/ubb/smile.gif), and I believe he was her master then. I had an excellent time, and I'm still kicking myself for not keeping in touch with the people I met on the cruise.

After the cruise, I drove back down to Bath and spent two pleasant and relaxing days at the Maine Maritime Museum.

Best,
Ken

[Alan D. Hyde]

Ken, Ed and I were both at Bates together. He started his woodworking by making dulcimers.

He did quite a lot of work on the Evans himself.

They did manage to raise her successfully. A lot of East coast papers carried a front page photo of the Evans, which sank on an even keel.

The photo showed her topmast protruding above the waves, with a flag still flying.

Don't know if Ed still has the Evans; I think perhaps not. I've kind of lost track of him.

Alan

[Joel Herzel]

Well, you will be pleased to know I saw this boat sitting in a cradle in Ralph Stanley's shop about three weeks ago. Getting a paint and don't know what else job.

[paladin]

200 feet down isn't all that bad. I raised a 45 footer from that depth a few years ago for an insurance company. Even with a very wet interior a 25 foot boat should make it to the surface if you are careful....but I'm getting too old for cold water and my dry suit ain't that warm anymore.......

[Carl Stone]

Sound like the "above water planking" theory could be a real answer. When you're sailing hard and the hull is leaking, you don't generally see it until it is too late. We were out two weekends ago on our 45 footer in 35+ winds and took on so much water through the hull we had to drop sails and stay level till the pumps caught up. It then took a week for the hull to reconfigrue and stop leaking. That would not usually happen, but she had been on land for almost a month this summer (don't ask) and dried out severely.