Hey Steve,

I can't even begin to imagine it, still absolutely amazing to me everyone got out alive... When you imagine the sheer size of that boat, and the distance Isler had to swim from the companionway out to the edge of the deck, it's easy to understand how close he came to not making it...

Some guy over on SAILING ANARCHY posted this scenario he came up with shortly after the capsize, before we knew any of the details or had heard any accounts of the survivors of the incident... I imagine it's pretty accurate, only it turns out it all happened considerably more quickly than at first imagined:

"Hummm, so you are charging along just fetching the Scilly launching off a small swell doing what, say 15 knots. Nothing odd here, just normal. 21 crew with the off watch below, say 10 on deck, a few up down below. Over a slightly larger wave maybe, and a slightly louder than normal noise from down below, and you land. Bang, the boat slowly starts heeling more. Main is getting dumped and the crew against the fence on the high side are now pushed back against the lifelines. Someone thinks the keel has canted the wrong way or a electrical/mechanical malfunction. Leeward rail goes in. The boys on the high side are now 20 plus feet above the sea and some very hard things in between. Crew down below are now scrambling up. Those who were asleep are now pitched out of their bunks. The helmsman with the wheel turned down now knows there is little hope. The rig hits the water and the boat now pirouettes nearly beam too. The rig begins to fill with water and the slow roll starts. The guys on the high side who did not turn inboard can actually ride the boat over. A few who turned to help early on , 4-5, fall the distance. Those coming out of the hatch are scrambling waist deep aft through the cockpit going for the rafts. Boat is now at 120 degrees and still going over. A few of the guys on the high side slip on the hull/epoxy bottom and fall into the sea. Rafts make it out the back and a few scramble aboard. The boat sits this way for a bit, say maybe 2 minutes. Trapped air and the sails are slowing the inevitable. Someone from down below has gotten the ditch bags. A sheet or halyard has been dropped for those in the water low side and they are pulled up over the stern. The boat finally goes turtle. Start to finish, the longest 5-7 minutes of your life. Glad to hear all are safe."

http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=125419&view=findpost&p=3368861

best regards,

Jon