Kim Alfreds has written a report on Cheekee Monkee's capsize as follows:
> Howdy Sailors!
>
> I was invited by the new owners of the Cheekee Monkee to sail with them on the
> Ft Lauderdale to Key West Race. Well it was fairly windy (NE 20) and they had
> little experience on the Cheekee Monkee so at the start they had me on the
> helm and one of my regular crew Mike McGarry on the spinnaker, I asked Ron to
> take the Mainsheet and asked Bob to get his weight at the back of the boat.
> Ron and Bob are the new owners. As we sped down the waves at 20 -25 knots,
> about 20 minutes after the race started on our way to Key West, the rudder
> started to ventilate and I lost all helm control. Intently focused on going
> fast, forgetting that my usual crew was not in place, I was expecting the main
> trimmer to blow off the main, I waited to get my helm control back. Nothing
> was happening and we started to round up (not a good thing). By this time I
> saw Mike was calling for the main to be released, and instead of blowing it
> off (not Bob's fault, I hadn't gone over the drill with him), Bob tried to
> ease the sail, well with the big loads, with the trigger release cam cleats
> you pull up to ease, it jerked him off his feet and as he fell forward the
> sail recleated itself. By this time the window to blow off the sail was pretty
> much lost as the crew was now concerned about themselves as the boat started
> to capsize.
>
> The boat slowly tipped over and turned upside down in about 60 feet of water.
> Mike nimbly walked from one side to the other as the boat flipped over not
> even getting his feet wet. With boat upside down and the crew all accounted
> for, we called in on the VHF and notified the Coast Guard that we were upside
> down in no immediate danger and needed a commercial operator to come and get
> the boat to flip in back over and take us back to the dock so we could salvage
> the boat, equipment and all the contents. Shortly after flipping the boat we
> could see the news helicopters and when we got back to the dock, there were
> three camera crews there to greet us. You know me, anything I can do to get
> attention!
>
> It took several hours to get the boat cleaned up after we had it towed back to
> the dock. The Boat US tow boat guys were great., out of the water and onto the
> trailer. Overall the damage to the boat and rig was not real significant.,
> mostly cosmetic, the sails and the running rigging took the biggest hit. The
> boat needs a complete set of sails including ones that were below and escaped,
> got trapped in the rig and then shredded. Anything that was tied down inside
> survived in whole.
>
> We were able to sail the boat for 11 years without capsize in at times, far
> worse conditions, so I was disappointed in myself that I allowed this to
> happen while I was onboard. Although I was not the skipper, (this was one of
> those times were there was no clearly defined roles, a situation which is to
> be vigorously avoided) I was on the helm and the pushing the boat hard got us
> into that situation, I had not properly ensured that the crew knew what to do
> in these conditions and as a result we paid the price. With my regular crew,
> they were all up to speed and could have handled these circumstances and keep
> us out of trouble by quickly responding appropriately to the changing
> conditions.
>
> Sail Fast, Sail Flat;
>
> Kim & Lynda Alfreds
> Cheekee Monkee
It should be noted that with the number of F-boats now out there one can
expect to see up to 10 - 12 capsizes every year. However, this (it should be
noted) is a much better safety record for serious accidents that light
aircraft. So that is one for 2007, and while racing as is usually the case.
So remember to be careful out there.
But, along with Cheekee Monkee's sailing performance, Kim has now also set a
much higher standard on how to capsize properly. So also be prepared.
Ian Farrier
Farrier Marine (NZ) Ltd
Farrier Marine, Inc.
