Hi Jeremy,

Taking their own hype too literally, perhaps? From the Gunboat website:

"SAFETY

Speed = Storm Avoidance

The ultimate safety feature is pure speed. Sail around storms. If a storm is unavoidable, safety is derived from the ability to surf sideways. With daggerboards up, the round bottom hulls will skate sideways along waves, and the long high bows offer tremendous reserve buoyancy. We believe mega catamarans are the safest platform for surviving the worst weather."

As always, we know very little of what actually occurred, what other damage the boat might have suffered...

However, it sounds as if they managed to cut away the rig successfully... Which begs the question, if this mega cat is indeed "the safest platform for surviving the worst weather", why did they abandon her? (grin)

Wouldn't a helo evacuation entail far more risk than remaining aboard such a "safe platform"? 200 miles offshore, surely they had the range to motor back in, no? Hang to a parachute or drogue until conditions moderate in their favor, perhaps?

Oh, wait... Being as they could "sail around storms", perhaps they didn't carry any of that stuff? Storm gear would only slow that thing down, after all... (grin)

So much for the effectiveness of the load sensors monitoring the forces on the standing rigging, and the ability to automatically have the sheets blown if the loads exceed a preset limit...

http://www.wavetrain.net/boats-a-gear/533-gunboat-60-the-future-is-now

best regards,

Jon