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Fearsome gale delivers fatal blow to world’s most innovative yacht Team Philip and Pete Goss devastated
after their December 11, 2000 One of the most innovative yacht designs in modern history has fallen victim to the North Atlantic - for the third time. And, quite possibly, the last. Pete Goss and Team Philips’s remarkable wave piercing catamaran, valued at STG 4 million, and heralded as something of a success symbol throughout Britain, was abandoned after a 961mb low pounded the 37m yacht’s central pod, causing loss of steerage. This key structural element on this graceful composite craft not only shelters the crew, it also holds the boat together. Team Philips during sea trial in early October - before the mast step failed. When this elegant cat worked, she sailed beautifully. Whoops! Team Philips, as the craft is called, has faced a string of hugely disappointing failures since its much touted launch in March. On its first sea trials off the Isles of Scilly a 40 foot section of bow broke off after the hull’s composite core delaminated from vital carbon fibre stringers. She was relaunched in September after STG 250,000 was spent installing ring frames in both hulls to improve load bearing ability. But only hours into her first trans-Atlantic crossing, on October 6, the crew reported what appeared to be delamination around the step of the massive port-side wingmast. Back to port for repairs ...The sad thing is, Goss reported that during the recent sea trials high into the North Atlantic, the yacht performed admirably. Speeds were better than sweet and her wave piercing ability looked promising. The yacht had qualified for The Race in conditions other contenders had never experienced. Oh, what a disappointment! In the animated composite map ABOVE, you can see the low at the start of the sequence and north-westerly winds on the storm's south-western flank. The storm was bad, but one which might be expected in the Southern Ocean leg of The Race. The pressure map BELOW shows the 961mb storm clearly, located to the west of Ireland.
Winter gales deliver fatal blow Team Philips was 800 miles west of Ireland when a 961mb low delivered the fatal blow to this hexed crew. You can see from the pressure map that the closest isobars were right over the 34m yacht, delivering more than 50 knots and steep seas from the west, north west. Goss reports that the boat was surfing down waves at speeds of 30knots under bare poles. But it must be remembered that the ‘bare poles’ aboard Team Philips provide a shocking amount of ‘sail’ area, because they are actually massive wing masts. It appears that water pressure damaged the central pod during this ‘fearsome gale’ and with more westerly winds behind the low, the decision was made to abandon ship. In fact, the low developed into a string of low pressure nodes, delivering a relentless onslaught of westerly winds and waves. The crew were rescued by the German container ship Hoechst Express and are on their way to Halifax Nova Scotia. Attempts will be made to salvage this unique vessel and optimistic team members ashore say she might sail again. Indeed, it would be nice to see her campaigned as a grand prix vessel sailing in the relatively protected waters of the sub-tropical Atlantic.
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