Breaking News: New 74' Spencer sportfish sinks...

I know of a guy who was master of two large well known large motor yachts that sank while he was aboard. I am not sure if his career carried on as well after the second one went down as it did after the first .

This Spencer sinking is slowly spreading over the web but no more details are available than what little we already know.
Anybody closer that may be able to update us?
looking forward to pictures of the damage. Just a strut/shaft ripped out or a hole in the hull.

Rumor says there is no insurance.
Spencer Jr. was driving.
Experienced guy but perhaps one gets complaisant?
On a $6. Mill boat there should be a huge chart plotter with top-notch charts, alarms and superior tech to warn of dangers ahead.
Sad ending to a brand new boat.

Be careful out there Ladies and Gentlemen.

I remember one of the Volvo offshore racers hit a reef. He did not zoom his display to a lower lever to see the notes and micro reef in the middle of the ocean.
That's where I like my dual screen, multi window displays. One of the chart plotter windows is always zoomed in to see the Navionic fine print and detail.

I have heard of reefs in the middle of nowhere but never met one.
Where was this?

Rcrapps,

I agree, zoom on chartplotters can be a problem if you allow yourself to get sucked into the wrong scale.
The wrong zoom can give you a false sense of security and deprive you of your awareness of what lies ahead and below.

One of the sunken boats (that I was referring to a few posts above) was on the wrong zoom and ran right onto a well known and charted ledge in water unfamiliar to the captain.

I'm old school, I like back up paper charts followed by multiple window zoom displays.

seems to be a common mistake recently, that is relying on modern methods instead of the old watch, chart, and a good compass...

http://www.yachtforums.com/threads/volvo-ocean-racer-abandoned-on-reef-nine-crew-rescued.23936/#post-207961


http://www.yachtforums.com/threads/us-navy-oops.19746/
Another example starts at #5

Amen Bro:
I don't leave no dock without no Paper Charts.

It always is but guys get complacent.
From my observations, the most successful guys out there, whether they drive boats, airplanes or dig ditches, are the ones who pay extreme attention to details.
Nuff said

I ALWAYS plot my course on paper charts ahead of time and then put the waypoints into my GPS. I find paper charts cover a large area AND have detail on them.

Rumor says there is no insurance.

Very surprised to hear that a top notched builder wouldn't have fleet insurance for those boats not yet officially delivered. All the more tragic to see that boat submerged to its gunwales if true. Has any one got info on what caused this? Mechanical? collision? hull/equipment failure?

No firm info yet on what caused the crash.
Based on 500 year technology one could speculate that the reef was not marked, or if the reef was marked, the master or the navigator did not pay attention to the marked reef on the chart.

Easy to be smart here, but this thing about running a boat onto a known obstacle, with current technology available, seems silly.

Having done my share of silly things over the years, I won't pass judgement but I sure want to pass questions of what the f.... Happened and how could the "Master" let it happen?

But we do really know yet that that happened. He could have lost a shaft, popped a seam or thru hull and then ran up on to that reef to save what he could? Just saying...

Sure, we were only speculating based on a "rumor" . I truly hope someone had insurance. What a gorgeous boat that was/is.

Came across a pic of the partially sunk spencer on instagram poster claimed it was just off Puerto Rico

News is on other sites that it hit a rock off of Fajardo, P.R on it's way into Fajardo and have better pictures.

http://www.inthebite.com/2016/01/spencer-74-afunday-sinks/

No..
Rumor says he ran up on a reef at a good clip with no insurance.
Hope it is all wrong.

Hey J!
I'll stick with YF for updates that don't affect my anti v or reality.