Independent report into the stranding of Vestas Wind

 Vestas Wind the day following the grounding with the crew starting the retrieval operation

Credit: Brian Carlin/Team Vestas Wind/Volvo Ocean Race

From Sailing Anarchy & Sail World

Stan Honey, Chuck Hawley, and the Rear Admiral Chris Oxenbould clearly put some prodigious brain power and a massive amount of time into the just-released Independent Report Into The Stranding Of Vestas Wind.

It’s a spectacular resource on its own, but it also puts to bed the months of speculation about what really caused the wreck of TVW.

Short answer?
Wouter gets the biggest hit for failing to zoom in on the right computer, while Nicho takes heat for communication and pre-race preparation issues.

A comparison between the detail shown on Expedition/C-Map Level A/0 1:3.3 million

and UKHO Chart 4702 Chagos to Madagascar 1: 3.5 million

The VOR gets dinged for changing the Cape Town to Abu Dhabi leg too late, and they name Expedition and C-Map as major factors in the wreck as well. (page 32-33)

The panel has not apportioned blame, but made the following conclusions:

• There were deficiencies in the use of electronic charts and other navigational data onboard Vestas Wind.
• There were also deficiencies in the cartography presenting the navigational dangers on the small and medium scales of the chart system in use.

The report into the Team Vestas Wind grounding on the Cargados Carajos Shoals has been published © Ainhoa Sanchez / Volvo Ocean Race
From the report:
“Contributing factors were:
. deficient use of electronic charts and other navigational data and a failure to identify the potential danger, and
. deficient cartography in presenting the navigational dangers on small and medium scale
(or zoomed out) views on the electronic chart system in use.“ 

But the real gem of this report comes all the way at the end, with the panel’s “Recommended Guidelines for Passage Planning and Racing Using Electronic Charts.”
This is basically a pre-flight checklist from the world’s top navigator, and it starts on Page 73.

Links :

• GeoGarage blog : Questions asked about Volvo Ocean Race boat grounding / Questions about electronic charts in a twenty-first century ship grounding