Part 1: Northern Marine 90' Yacht Capsizes Upon Launch...!

I think I'll weigh in, no pun intended.

I don't claim to be anything close to an engineer but I keep looking at that thing out of the water and think there is no way that thing was going to float upright. It was posted somewhere that it had a 6.5ft draft, that appears accurate from the water line and judging from those engine room windows, and it has to be the engine room, you must have 35+% of the fattest part of the hull to be machinery spaces. Engines, pump room, air conditioners, lazerette, this system, that system, and that would leave the rest for tankage and ballast. Not enough in my inexperienced eye. Certainly that needed to be a 8+ ft draft vessel. And the 6.5 is to the keel so even less space for ballast.

Obviously my calculations are done without said calculator but that thing wasn't going to keep the shiny side up in the marina much less out of it.

If it's true that there is no activity around the vessel, that's a shame. I have never understood why a company would sit and wait for some type of authorization to get the machinery flushed out and running after a sinking. The value of the machinery can go from slightly diminished to junk in a matter of hours.
I was looking at some of the weights listed on the prior pdf. Is 12 to 13 thousand pounds of "stone work" normal for a vessel of that size? That extended "sky lounge" may not have been the best idea either. It's really a shame. The hull finish looks to be built to a high standard. Trying to make a living building boats has never been easy. I wish the builders the best.

Olderboater, your post #196 seems to confirm my #56. Good catch. I hope the corn crop holds up, ($4.58 today) as it would appear Mr Lauridsen took a big hit. Ankeny is just 25 miles from Ames.

I don't know if that is standard, however I bet it is all on the port side in the sky lounge!

Or, just ran out of options..it can happen really fast in the business world, specially the high end Yacht building biz. There will be more fail as history repeats.

Capt Aaron Pufal has reduced his blog and commentary on "his creation" and " breaking new ground in every step, this project would redefine innovation, ingenuity and design in the yachting industry." to 4 short paragraphs.

Yacht Captain's Blog (Aaron Pufal)

Wow! Life has kept me from this Forum...but I had to read all of the threads before I threw my 2 cents in. I have a broker friend of mine up in that neck of the woods, and the day after the "sinking" he wrote this to me....

A fellow broker and myself looked at this boat out of the water on Friday evening. We both commented how top heavy it looked and the fact that the dollies under it were not substantial enough to get the boat launched. Also, the ramp that they tried to use is for small boats only?

It was reported today that Northern Marine did not use a naval architect to draw or approve the drawing of the boat. The in-house computer guy did it all. Whoops!

So the rumor now is that it costs Northern Marine 10M to build a boat, at a contracted price of 7M, they saved money and refused a naval architect, then tried to launch it in the wrong place without the right equipment. I'll follow this to see if the insurance company agrees to pay off or not………

The upsetting part is that I have a client and others who own slips in the marina behind the launch ramp, who has loaded their boats for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend and the Coast Guard won't let them leave their slips, as it is too close to the "wreck".

Now, this comes from a man who has been in the business for some 30 odd years, and knows what he's talking about. I took a look at all the other Northern Marines for sale on Yacht world...and they all look top heavy...I wouldn't own one.

On another note, I'm shocked that this Forum (for the most part) put a target on olderboaters back, just because he posted his thoughts and opinions.We are all entitled to our opinions, and all of his were well thought out, and accurate as far as I was concerned. There's an old saying "Opinions are like a**holes....everybody has one". The point is that this boat should have never been launched in the first place. A six year old could look at the circumstances prior to launch and figured this out.

I will say that the response to this disaster due to stupidity(on a lot of peoples part) was much more that I would have thought possible! You forum guys are a passionate bunch! I think that's a good thing...I think people should be passionate about subjects that matter to them on what ever level.

My friend will keep me posted on what he finds out. O.K. I'm done...I'm sure with all the passionate reply's, that I'm gonna get blasted from somebody.

Yes, it was being towed up the New River in reverse and the transom door was open, which was only about 6" above the waterline height. I was at Rolly when it was towed in and sunk at it's dock. To the credit of Rolly marine, Greg the yard manager was in the water and swimming into the engine room and assisting with refloating it instantly and they did a very quick job floating her again.

I cannot speak for other Northern Marines. But can speak for the 76' that is pictured in their ad on this forum. I ran that boat for the factory when it was under different ownership. The factory had the boat run from Pompano Beach,FL back to Anacortes, WA on it's own bottom for some changes to it. I also know the current owners of the vessel who have owned it almost 10 years now. They ran the vessel all over the world and are a father and son crew. They took it from the factory down to Brazil, through the canal, up to ft. laud, then to NY, then across to the med where it currently is, then back to Ft. Laud, then back to the Med., and are very happy with the vessel.

I have run that vessel in 10' seas and 25 knot winds. It was stable as stable can be, and very solid. It did not list, roll or anything......I started out with seas on the beam and then ran bow into them on a 40 NM trip. It had a very good, stable, ride. I really liked the vessel, and overall it was very well built, but did have some minor engineering things that could've been done better, but all builders do. Even their competitor (who is highly regarded) had a nearly brand new 76' that sunk at the dock in Mexico a few years back, and all of the automatic bilge pumps were WAY undersized.

The pity is that this news will affect re-sale values of all Northern Marine boats for many years. I certainly would not consider one for the fact this happened, and secondly, because as good as a particular NM boat may be, it is still tarred by the same brush.

Thanks to all who have contributed to this storyline, fascinating stuff and I 've learned much from the spirited back and forth.

Just found this great article on the behavior of a vessel at launch by Phil Friedman and thought I'd share:

https://www.linkedin.com/today/post...have-at-launch-watch-this-video?trk=prof-post

Could an open hatch/incorrectly sealed stabilizer really have caused all of this?

Seems to be doing fine on land.

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/g...-yacht-capsizes-upon-launch-2.html#post196226

I have been reading more. Even received a couple of emails trying to explain to me my simple thoughts were in error. Have reviewed end launch videos. Serious red-neck logic has been re-viewed.
Even asked my friends Ronrico and Bacardi. And we all agreed...

A few people screwed up.

Seriously, a few people screwed up...

Also here at this URL someone mentions (before launch) the ship looks top heavy:

It is the facebook page of the yard, where 3 pictures of the ship were posted on May 6. The first comment to one of the pictures says "looks a bit top heavy, a little more boat in th water would be nice." And another comment to that same picture says: "gonna need those fins" (=the stabilizers).

That picture shows, in my opinion, that this ship is very high compared to the length and the waterline.... The facebook comments suggest that at least some people had doubts about stability before launch.

Have you seen pictures of most of the latest cruise ships out of the water? They make the N M look totally sea worthy, yet you never hear of a cruise ship rolling over.....There's a little more to seaworthiness than how the vessel looks out of the water......It all depends on the center of gravity and where all of the weight is located.

This thread is being closed due to off-topic commentary. Thank you to our senior members for the continuing discovery and education.

Part 2 of this thread with further revelations is continued here...

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/g...ern-marine-90-yacht-capsizes-upon-launch.html